A Summer Quest
by Yamcha'sBabyDoll
Summary: I, Cayla, go to the Quest Compound for summer vacation. That may not sound very interesting, but believe me it will be. The rating will have to change later if I continue the story. Review and I probably will. Also, how about some constructive critisism h
1. Default Chapter

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A Summer Quest

Disclaimer: I don't own Jonny Quest, but I do own this story and I'd appreciate it if you'd review it! Thanks! This story has me, Cayla White, in it and my parents, brother and friends. Why? Since it's me spending the summer at the Quest compound, I'm not going to change names or anything, except for my last name, due to parental concerns. Enjoy!

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"Mom!" I yelled, "Why didn't you tell me you knew the Quest's?" I was in shock. My mother had just informed me that she, Sandra White, had gone to college with Dr. Benton Quest. As if this weren't shocking enough, she had also just told me that they had kept in touch whenever they could find the time. AND she had just told me that since my brother was going to soccer camp all summer, I was going to Maine to stay with the Quest's! ME! Going to stay with Jonny, Hadji, Jessie, Dr. Quest, and Race ALL SUMMER LONG! How cool was that?

Their personal jet, flown by Hank, would pick her and me up 2 days from now and fly us to Maine. Mom would stay over the weekend to make sure I got settled and to visit with Dr. Quest. Then, Hank would fly her back and I'd stay until 5 days before school started. The whole summer in Maine without my mom, plus 2 gorgeous guys, a girl who was adventure-loving but smart (just like me), and 2 very laid-back supervisors. Perfect!

As Mom kept talking, I realized that Jessie was living with her Mom for awhile. Apparently, Jessie was at a stage where Daddy didn't work, only Mommy did. I'm always like that, so I could relate. The only bad thing was that since Jessie wouldn't be back all summer, I would be the only girl with 4 guys who I barely knew. That could get weird. Still, according to Mom, Dr. Quest was sure it would work out and he said that everyone was looking forward to my visit.

Now only one true problem faced me: WHAT WAS I GOING TO WEAR?!?!?! I swear, nothing will make you need a new wardrobe like a summer vacation. And I only had 1 day to shop and pack! Grrrr....

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I wandered around my house anxiously waiting for the jet to fly overhead and land in my backyard. No, just kidding. I was actually waiting at a private gate in the Pittsburgh Airport with my Mom. I'm glad she was coming for the first few days. She needed a break, too. She and Dad had been fighting a lot lately and they were probably looking forward to time without my brother and me around so they could work things out.

I looked at my luggage. 3 suitcases, a duffle bag, a carryon, and my backpack and purse. Pretty good for 2 ½ months away from home. My Mom just had a duffle bag and her purse. We were already to go. A tall guy with brown hair walked towards us.

"Cayla, Mrs. White? I'm Hank, your pilot for the 2½ hour trip. Let's get you loaded up." Within minutes, we were strapped in and ready to depart.

Hank made small talk throughout the flight and told me more about the Quest's. Jonny and Hadji were 15, just 1 year older than me and yes, they did have all of the futuristic things they had on the show, even though the show exaggerates a lot of the details. They did look like they did on the show, except real looking. This was sounding better and better.

The flight passed a lot quicker than I thought it would. In no time at all, we were landing in a clearing net to the Quest Compound. I was unbuckled and out of my seat the second Hank said it was safe to get up. The door of the Compound was opening to reveal (drum roll, please!) Dr. Benton Quest and Race Bannon. 

I was staring, no, I was STARING. I knew it was rude, but hey, give me a break. I was thrilled.

Dr. Quest and Race approached my Mom and I. I had the urge to run back into the jet and hide, for some reason. Too late.

"Sandy, it's great to see you!" Dr, Quest said, kissing my Mom's cheek. He turned to me, "And this must be Cayla. She looks just like her pictures."

That's not a compliment. I HATE my pictures.

"Mom," I hissed, "Which pictures did you send him?"

"This year's school picture," she said, "Why?"

Great. Just great. My idols are standing in front of me and they saw my school picture. The one where I looked like Casper the Friendly Ghost because it was a dark background and I have a pale complexion. I closed my eyes and counted to 10.

"It's nice to meet you both," I said. There we go. Manners. Act cute and intelligent and you'll do fine.

Dr. Quest shook my hand and introduced us to Race. I immediately liked Race. He made me feel much more comfortable with a hug instead of being formal. Good so far... where were Jonny and Hadji?

Race and Dr. Quest helped Hank carry our things inside. Hank left and they showed me and Mom to our rooms. Apparently Mom and I were in guest rooms, mine next to Jonny's and Mom's next to Dr. Quest's. Hadji's room was on the other side of Jonny's and Race's room was on the other side of Dr. Quest's. Still no sign of the guys.

We all went down to the living room. While Race made coffee, Dr. Quest went over to a speaker on the wall. He pressed a red button that I later meant the call was directed to the Virtual Reality Room.

"Jonny, Hadji, our gusts are here. Come on in."

By the time the boys got here, the coffee had been served. the front door opened to reveal (finally!) Jonny and Hadji.

My jaw almost dropped, but I caught myself. OMG, these guys were DEFINITLY cuter than on TV! Stop it! I mentally ordered myself, Be calm and polite.

"Hello, Cayla," Hadji said. God, I love his accent! "I'm glad you could join us this summer. Dr. Quest thinks most highly of you." Wow, now THAT was manners!

"Thank you," I said, "It's nice to meet you, too." 1 down, 1 to go... Why wasn't Jonny saying anything? Oh, well, here goes...

"Hi, Jonny," I said, "What's up?"

He looked me up, down, and then bought his eyes back to my face. Then, he turned around and walked out of the room. 

Dr. Quest got up, but Race stopped him and went after Jonny himself. Hadji looked surprised.

I smiled faintly, "Guess he didn't like what he saw."

Hadji smiled, "It's not you. It's Jessie."

Well, that confused me slightly, "Um, what do you mean?"

"He misses her and he thinks you're hear to take her place temporarily." Hadji explained.

"I hate to be the one to tell him this," I said. So much for polite! "I don't take people's places; I make my own."

Hadji grinned, "You'll find a place here," he said, "You sound like you'll fit in just fine."

Race came back with a rather ashamed Jonny. I wondered what Race had said to him.

"Sorry," he said, meeting my eyes, "It was rude to do that, but it's been tough around here lately."

"I'm sorry Jessie left," I said, "I'm not here to take her place. I make my own place wherever I go. Her place will still be here when I'm here. Can we start over?"

Jonny grinned a gorgeous make-me-melt grin and said, "Sure. Hey, Cayla, I'm Jonny. Glad you could make it. Are you all settled in? Hadji and I are always on duty if you need anything."

Thank God, I thought. Things will work out just fine while I'm here. This is going to be a great summer...

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Well? Do you think it's good so far? I have to keep writing some more chapters. Don't worry, it will get more interesting as it goes along. This was just the introduction.


	2. The Party And The Problems It Brought

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Disclaimer: Hey, I'm back! I still don't own Jonny Quest or BB Mak's song, "Ghost of Me And You". Hope you enjoy this chapter. It's going to be more interesting, I promise... Here goes...

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"Bye Mom!" I called, "I'll miss you!" 

When the jet flew out of sight, I sighed. As much as I love my Mom, I couldn't wait till she was gone so I could have some fun without her breathing down my neck.

It had been 2 days since I had arrived at Quest Compound. Things couldn't be better. A pool, weight room, VR Room, hover boards. Well, the hover boards _looked _like fun. Mom wouldn't let me near one for fear of my breaking my neck. Race said I could ride one when she left *wicked grin*. I couldn't wait.

Jonny, Hadji and I got along great, thank God. I was worried about Jonny and I since he and I had that problem the first day I was here. We almost had another problem. You know my room, the guestroom? Well, it wasn't a guestroom, it was Jessie's room. Race figured I should be near everyone and since Jessie wouldn't be here to use it, I could stay there. BIG mistake. Jonny's face turned an interesting shade of white. So much for my not being here to take Jessie's place. Fortunately, Race admitted his mistake and Jonny said that, really, it was no problem and I could stay there, it was just a shock. Crisis 2 adverted.

Now where were those hover boards?

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The phone rang. Now, at your and my houses, this wouldn't be a big deal, but here, you never know who might be on the other end. The President of our or another country, the FBI, or...

"Jonny, Robbie's on the phone!" Race yelled.

Oh, well, so much for excitement and mystery...

"That sounds like fun," I heard Jonny say, "Hadji and I'd love to come. Do you mind if we bring a guest?" My ears perked up, "We've got a friend who's staying with us all summer and if you don't mind, could we bring her along?"

There was a pause while he waited for an answer, "Great, we'll see you then. Bye." 

"Dad, Robbie is having a party to celebrate summer vacation. Can we go? He said it would be fine to bring Cayla."

"Sure," Dr. Quest said, "When?" 

"Tomorrow," Jonny said, "It's at his house."

"Fine. Tell Hadji and Cayla."

Hadji and I happened to be sitting 10 feet away on the couch and could hear every word said, but that was Ok.

"You up for a party?" Jonny asked us.

"Yes," Hadji said, "We have not seen Robbie or any of the others for a long time. It will be nice to see them again."

"Who?" I asked, feeling slightly confused. That seemed to be my main emotion at the Quest Compound.

"Robbie and some of the other kids who live a couple of miles away," Jonny said, "We've been friends awhile and he has a huge house so parties are always fun."

"Sounds good," I said, "What do I wear?"

Jonny looked at me funny and said, "Clothes."

I counted to 10. I must remember these are guys, "I mean, is it dressy or casual?" Good God, how dense do you get?

"Oh, casual" Jonny said, "Shorts and a nice shirt. It's going to be hot tomorrow."

The outfit immediately formed in my mind: Jean shorts and my crinkly blue halter top. If Race lets me out of the house in it. He may be laid back about hover boards, but not about this kind of stuff. He seemed to have adopted me on spot. That was fine with me. I liked him better than Dr. Quest. Race talks like a normal human, not like a physicist. He speaks fluent teenager.

I was just a little lot a bit nervous about the party. I wouldn't know anyone. At least I'd show up with 2 cute guys...

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"We're going to be late!" This is the usual response at my house when I happen to be running a little behind in getting ready. It's usually me holding everyone up. Not this time. I had been ready with time to spare in case I had to change. Fortunately, Race said I looked awesome and didn't freak when he saw my shirt. Hadji and I were ready to go. Jonny, however...

"Jonny!" Race yelled, "Come on, or we'll leave without you!" I was getting impatient and more nervous by the second.

Hadji, who seems to have a sense for these things, leaned over and said quietly, "You'll be fine. Robbie is very nice and we'll introduce you to everyone. You look very nice."

"Thanks," I said. That was what I needed to hear. I think Hadji and I have a psychic bond. He can always tell what I'm thinking and while he doesn't show much emotion, I can always tell what he's thinking about. Pretty good for knowing the guy for 5 days. Anyway, (drum roll) Here's Jonny!

He came down looking the same as he always did. He had combed his hair and changed his shirt. How long does that take? Certainly not an hour.

Race hustled us into the van and we drove for all of 10 minutes before pulling up to Robbie's house. If I had seen this house any other time, it would have looked huge, but since I had been living in the Quest Compound, this place looked fairly normal sized.

A boy in black shorts and a velvet blue-swirled shirt came out of the house and down the driveway. He was definitely cute, with brown hair, blue eyes, glasses and a very nice smile.

"Hey, Jonny, Hadji, long time no see," he said. We got out of the car and Jonny told Race we'd call when we were ready to be picked up. We waved good-bye and walked up the driveway.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Robbie asked, "I'd like to be able to call her something other than 'Jonny and Hadji's friend from... um...'"

"Pennsylvania," I said. I was tired of waiting, "And my name's Cayla White. You must be Robbie." 

"Yeah, that's me," Robbie said, "I hope you have fun tonight. We'll introduce you to the girls and they can introduce you to the guys. It'll will give them an excuse to talk to them."

I grinned. Sounds like typical party from home.

We went inside and I was surprised to see about 30 people gathered in the house. "Robbie and the girls" was more like "Robbie plus 29 complete strangers". Deep breath. Good girl.

"Well, look who's here!" a girl said, "Jonathan Quest, were have you been hiding yourself?" She hugged him and Hadji and asked, "Who's this?"

"Melissa, this is Cayla," Jonny said, "She's staying with us this summer." He had an odd look in his eyes.

"Where did you pick her up?" Melissa asked, "India, Russia," she took a good look at me and asked, "Maybe Spain?"

I wasn't sure where this girl was going, but I didn't feel like finding out. I already decided I didn't like her, "He didn't pick me up anywhere. I came to the compound without his help, thank you very much. I'm what you could call a friend of the family's."

Melissa blinked, apparently surprised that I had ruined her fun, "Oh, well," she said and walked away.

"What was that?" I asked.

"She's always like that," Robbie said, "Ignore her."

News travels fast. Apparently, once people heard how I trashed Melissa, I won a good deal of respect. We had arrived at the party a little after 6 and by 6:30, I was introduced to every person at the party and met a few people that I liked a lot.

The guys left me in the care of Sabryna, Lindsay, and Toni (girl, not guy) and went off with David, Sam and Andy to talk about whatever guys talk about at parties. Melissa was apparently Lindsay's best friend, but she was off sulking once she found out that Lindsay thought I was cool. The surprising thing was, that while all the girls were dancing, none of the guys would get up and move, at least not to fast songs. I found this very annoying.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I walked over and grabbed Jonny's hand, "Come dance with me."

He looked a little surprised, which wasn't too surprising, but he got up and we started dancing. Or what he thought was dancing. I shot him a look and said, "Loosen up!"

He shot me a look to match my own and did as I requested. What an improvement! The trend seemed to catch on, as these things usually do. Almost everyone was dancing now. Except for Hadji which didn't surprise me. He's a very reserved kind of person, so I left him alone. At least until the next slow song. Then I asked him to dance. He looked surprised, but said yes.

He waltzed (yes, you heard me right, _waltzed_) me around the room. Apparently, the western style of dancing didn't appeal to him, but that was OK.

After I danced 3 songs with Robbie in a row, Jonny grabbed my arm and we started to dance. It was now 9:45. It happened to be one of my favorite songs, " Ghost of Me And You" by BB Mak. As guys have the tendency to do, they were all making noises while we were dancing. I looked at Jonny expecting to see him either red with embarrassment or laughing his head off. He has a weird sense of humor sometimes. This was not one of those times.

He was looking back at me with an odd look on his face. It was the same look he had given me earlier when I had come downstairs in my party outfit. I couldn't place the look, but it looked familiar from somewhere.

I looked at him and saw hat he wasn't looking at me, exactly. More like he was looking through me. Creepy. What was his problem? I wished I knew. Be careful with what you wish for...

"Jonny?" I asked. No answer. I was about to ask him again when...

I was experiencing one of my moments of claustrophobia. He was too close. No, his face was to close. What the...?

He was about to kiss me. OMG, what the heck...? His lips were about an inch away from mine when... he moved away. Not just away from my face, from me. In about 2 seconds, there was about 2 feet between us. Again, **_what the heck_**?

He was staring at me again, but this time he was looking at me, not through me. I didn't like this look one bit. Especially since everyone was now staring at us. All I had to say was, **_NOT MY FAULT_**. He started it and now he was PO'd at me. Peachy keen _fantastic_...

I was now staring at his back. he was walking towards Robbie and after a second of discussion, he walked off into the kitchen. I walked over to Hadji, who looked **VERY** confused. Darn, I was hoping he'd use his insight and figure this out.

I looked at him, sat down, and shrugged. Again, **_NOT MY FAULT_**! Hadji looked more upset than I probably did.

About 10 minutes later, Race showed up. Jonny had apparently called him from the kitchen phone and asked him to come pick us up. I said good-bye to everyone and got some of my new friends phone numbers. Hadji went to the kitchen to get Jonny and I went out to the car with Race. I climbed into the front seat. There was no way I was sitting in the back with the guys.

Hadji and Jonny climbed into the backseat and we pulled out of the driveway. Race must have noticed something was wrong, because he said, "Did you have fun at the party?"

He was met with silence. I looked out the window so he hopefully wouldn't ask me any questions. Race looked in the mirror at the guys and was met by Jonny's angry eyes and Hadji's shrug. Race gave up on questions and the rest of the ride was silent. I didn't realize I was crying until I noticed drops on the window pane when I knew it wasn't raining...

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Well? Wasn't that more interesting? To any of my friends reading this (probably Robbie), did you like the fact that you were included? I hope so. More chapters to come, if people review saying they'd like me to continue *hint, hint, hint* ! Anyway please review and for now, ja ne!

  



	3. Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

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Disclaimer's: I still don't own Jonny Quest... **_REVIEW! _**

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I love this place. It has the best pool: it's Olympic-sized, has a diving board, diving pedestals for racing, and the water's heated. What more could you ask for?

How about some peace of mind? Yes, that's right. Jonny is sill apparently mad at me for no reason. He avoids me like the plague. Oh, well, at least everyone else is still talking to me.

What am I doing in the pool at a time like this? Putting myself through a ritual that I use to relieve stress. I start in the deep end of the pool and swim to the shallow end and back. When I reach one of the diving pedestals, I do 10 chin-ups, then do 2 more laps and keep going on like that. 

Why wasn't it working? This _always _works! My foolproof plan to calm myself down had deserted me at the worst possible time!

Just as I was ready to give up and get out of the pool, Race came in wearing a red swimsuit and climbed into the pool with me. He swam over to me once I reached the shallow end.

"Hey, munchkin," he said. As much as I love Race, I really _HATE_ that nickname, "How long have you been in here?"

"2½ hours," I said.

"Have you been swimming like that the whole time?"

"Yes," I said, "I'm working off some energy." Nervous energy...

"Well, even if you have a lot more energy, I think you'd better take a break. I wouldn't want to have to call your Mom and tell her that her daughter collapsed from exhaustion. She'd be up here to pick you up and take you home in no time."

I smiled faintly, "You know, it's funny you should mention my Mom picking me up."

"Why?" Race asked.

"I was thinking that summer vacation's a really long time to be away from home." I said.

"And?" Race prompted.

"Maybe I should go home soon," I finished in a rush.

Race was silent for a minute, "If you think that you'll get too homesick, then by all means, go home. But, if you're running away from Jonny because of what happened at the party, then I think you're making a mistake."

I stared at him for a few seconds before saying, "I don't know what you're talking about," a second to late.

"Hadji told me," Race said, "Don't worry, I won't yell at you. It wasn't your fault."

"I'm glad you think so," I said, "Jonny's been avoiding me and he seems pretty angry."

"He's probably angry with himself," Race remarked, "I think he genuinely likes you."

My response to that was starting to swim all over again. Race just waited calmly until I made it back to the shallow end.

"Calm down," he said, "If you don't want to talk about it, then just say so. Don't run away."

I felt slightly insulted at that. I wasn't running away, I was just working off frustration before I started screaming. Race doesn't know about my issues and such, so I couldn't really blame him. 

I looked him in the eyes, "I never run away, I just know when I'm not wanted."

"Well, I want you to stay, Hadji wants you to stay, and the Doc wants you to stay. 3 out of 4 isn't bad." Race said reasonably, "But the choice is yours. Whatever you want to do is fine with us."

"Thanks," I said.

"No problem. Why don't you go take a shower and think for awhile?" he said.

"Not thanks," I said, "I think better when I'm in the water. It calms me down. All the problems just float away." Then I felt really stupid for saying that.

Race just said, "If you decide to stay, you should tell that to Hadji. He does the same thing with a candle flame. According to him, he puts all of his anger into the candle flame and then he blows the flame out."

I smiled, "I'll leave you to swim," Race said. He got out of the pool, grabbed his towel, and left. I started a fresh round of laps.

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All right I told myself Go talk to him. I was on my way to talk to Jonny. I asked Dr. Quest where the boys were and he said they were in (big surprise) the VR Room, so that was where I was headed.

I walked in and waited until they took their helmets off. Jonny saw me and tried to get to the door, but I happened to be blocking it, so he was forced to stay. He wasn't going to ignore me this time.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked them.

"Of course," Hadji said before Jonny could say anything. I shot him a grateful look.

"I'm leaving," I said bluntly, "I'm going home tomorrow. I thought I should tell you so you don't hear it from your Dad or Race. I can tell when it's time for me to go home."

"Cayla," Hadji said, "Why are you leaving before anything's happened? We had all sorts of fun activities planned."

"I think enough has happened already, Hadji," I said, "It's time for me to go. Please don't make it any harder."

Hadji nodded. Jonny hadn't said a word, which was all I needed to convince me that it was _definitely _time for me to go.

I went up to my room to pack and call my Mom.

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Hank loaded my things into the jet. I was leaving in about 10 minutes and I had to say good-bye to everyone.

I gave Dr. Quest a hug, "Thanks for inviting me. I wish I could've stayed longer."

"That's OK," he said, "I don't blame you for being homesick. Maybe the whole summer is just too long to be away from home."

Race told me the Doc didn't know what happened at the party. He thought it was just homesickness that made me want to leave. That was a relief.

On to Race, "Bye, Race. Thanks for all your help." He knew what I meant.

"No problem, munchkin," he said, "We'll miss you. Call anytime and reverse the charges." I _hate _being called that...

"Bye, Hadji," I said, "You seem like a very interesting person. I wish I had the time to get to know you better."

"You are very interesting, too," he said, "You have hidden depths in you. I wish I could have helped you discover them."

For some reason, that brought tears to my eyes.

Blinking them away, I turned to (dum de dum dum) Jonny.

I walked over and before I could hug him, he stuck out hi hand. Surprised, I shook it, "Bye, Jonny. I'm sorry things ended this way." As I walked towards the jet, I thought I heard him say, "So am I."

After one last round of hugs, Hank came over, "All set."

I was halfway in the jet when someone grabbed my arm. I turned around to see Jonny. Just as I was about to say what, he leaned down and kissed me. I looked at him in shock.

"I want you to stay," he said, "Please don't leave because I was stupid."

"I was going to stay, but I needed to hear you say that you wanted me to and you didn't." I said.

"I said it now," he said, "Was I in time to stop you?"

"Yes," I said, "I'm staying."

"Good," he said.

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Come on, you didn't think I would leave before anything interesting happened, did you? I haven't gotten to go anywhere or even use the VR Room because those boys hog it so much! **_Review_** with adventure ideas, K? The Management.


	4. We're Going to India... Boy, Should I Be...

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Disclaimer's: Hey, big surprise! I now own Jonny Quest! No, I'm just kidding. **_Review_** with **ACTION** ideas before this gets too boring...

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While the TV show makes life at the Quest Compound so action-packed that you can barely eat breakfast in peace, let me tell you something. I almost left 1 week ago and _still _nothing exciting has happened. There have been many interesting adventures in the VR Room, but none outside of it. Now that we all get along and Jonny's my "boyfriend" (I think), there aren't even any fights to look forward to! 

The only interesting thing that's happened is Bandit somehow managed to start the hover board that Jonny left inside on the floor, fell off it, and knocked over a lamp. He's fine, by the way. Dr. Quest isn't though. That was his favorite lamp.

Now that the guys aren't avoiding me (the exact opposite o be precise), that means they swim with me. **THAT **means that I get teased repeatedly for not going off the diving board and since I weigh next to nothing, I get dunked constantly. Should've left when I had the chance. There is _one _good thing...

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"Breathe in, and out," Hadji's voice says. 

Yes, you may have guessed correctly. I am meditating. Hadji has been trying to convince Jonny for years that finding his center will help him a lot; He convinced me in about 2 minutes. According to him, I already meditate to some extent. My water-soothes-me-and-all-the-problems-just-float-away thing is actually a form of finding my center. Well, if my center's in water, then I might have to live in a pool for the rest of my life. That's the purpose of this exercise. We're trying to see if I can have a center on land, too. So far, I think it's drawing a blank...

"Imagine you are in your favorite spot on Earth," Hadji said, "Now, where are you?"

"At the beach," I said.

I heard a sigh, "Now imagine you are at your favorite place that _doesn't _involve water."

"In a tree" I said.

"Good," Hadji said.

"So, I'm not hopeless?" I asked opening my eyes.

"Far from it," Hadji said, "Now we just need to get you out of the pine tree onto solid ground."

"How hard is that?" I asked

"Well," Hadji said, "It took me 3 years to find my center."

Great, I have less than 3 months, "Can you hurry that along?" I asked.

Hadji gave me a look like I suggested to strip and do the mambo, "I guess not." I said.

Hadji grinned and said, "You have the Western style of impatience."

"Sorry," I said.

"Don't apologize," Hadji said "We'll figure it out."

Uh-huh, right. People say that when they don't know what else to say...

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I was woken up very unpleasantly the next morning. Birds were chirping (don't they know it's too early to be perky?), the sun was shining, and... someone is yelling. Or at least talking **_WAY_** too loudly for... 10:23 in the morning. I pulled my pillow over my head and was half asleep when I heard someone say, "Go get her boy."

Oh, no I thought, I'm back at my house and they're sending the dog in to wake me up!

Half right. I wasn't at my house, but they _were_ sending the dog in to wake me up.

"Ow," I muttered, "Bandit, I have to teach you not to do that." Memo to me, **_kill_** his master...

"Cayla, wake up!" Jonny yelled, "We're going to India."

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_THAT _ got my attention, "We're _what_?" 

"Going to India," Jonny said, "Get up, get dressed, get some breakfast, and get packed. We leave in 2 hours."

_What the heck_... Wait, **_India_**! Hadji's Mom... palace... _Oh, my lord, we're going to INDIA! _(Yeah, I know, how observant. Nothing gets by me, let me tell you...) 

I got out of bed (got tangled in my covers and fell actually) and bolted downstairs in my PJs.

"We're going to India?" I asked Hadji. 

He gave me a weird look, "Yes. I have not seen my mother in some time and we thought we would go while you were here so you could meet her."

"Would you like some breakfast?" Race asked. 

"Yes, please," I said, then, "Who made it?" Now, I love Jonny and Hadji dearly, but I _will not _touch anything they made without help. I made that mistake with pancakes...

"Me," Race said, "Your scrambled eggs are on the counter."

I managed to eat a nice calm breakfast, but the second I was done... **_ZOOM! _**

I ran upstairs to get dressed... and ran back down the steps. 

"What do you wear to India?" I asked Hadji.

"Clothes," Jonny answered. _Men_...

"Did I ask you?" I asked. He looked hurt.

"You wear what you would wear here," Hadji said, "Just make sure it's lightweight and comfortable. It will be much hotter there."

"Thank you," I said and ran back up the steps.

I got dressed in a halter top and shorts and was packed and ready to go in an hour and 50 minutes. That left 10 minutes for Hank to load things into the jet and we could leave. Perfect...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well, I don't know about you, but it seems to me that whenever you want to go somewhere, it takes you longer than if you could've cared less. Therefore, the 12 hour flight to India seemed like about 12 days long. At least I behaved and didn't keep 

going "Are we there yet?"

Of course that could have something to do with the fact that I slept for the last 2 hours. It felt like midnight when we got there, but it was really about 7 am over there. I hate time differences. Fortunately, Hadji's Mom didn't mind that we all looked exhausted. She sent us up to our rooms to take a nap before we did anything. I slept for 8 hours, then got up, washed up, and went out of my room in an attempt to find my way around the palace. I opened the door and got a shock. There was a guard outside my door! What did I do...

"Hello?" I said.

"Hello," the guard's English was pretty good except for the heavy accent, "You are Cayla?"

"Yes," I said.

"Come. All of your companions are with Her Majesty, waiting for you."

We walked forever. It didn't really seem that long before, but then again I was only half conscious earlier and I have the funny feeling that Race carried me the last part of the way.

The guard left me outside a door and said, "They are in there," and left.

I felt really dumb standing outside of this huge door. Was I supposed to knock or something? I decided to opt for politeness and knock. I'd rather be stupid than rude, so I knocked.

Another guard opened the door and let me in. Jonny, Hadji, Dr. Quest, and Race were sitting on pillows with Hadji's Mom. I must have been really tired because I didn't recognize her at first. Then I realized that since she was the only female there, hey, _THAT'S HER!_

"Hello, you must be Cayla," she said.

"Yes, I am," I said, "It's nice to meet you." My eyes were shooting Jonny and the others frantic looks: _Well do I bow or something? Say Your Majesty? **HELP!**_ And of course, none of them could understand me, so I got no help whatsoever.

"Won't you please have a seat?" she asked.

I sat down on the pillow next to Jonny and sighed quietly. Today just was _not _my day for impressing people with my brains.

Jonny must have to sense something was wrong because he put his arm around my shoulder and I thought he was going to try to make it better but, "You look so tired. Didn't you take a nap?"

"Yes, I did!" I snapped, "Don't you think I would've been down here sooner if I wasn't sleeping?"

"Calm down," he said, "I really don't think you got enough sleep."

My response to that was shaking his arm off and moving my pillow on the other side of Race. I looked back over at Jonny who gave me a vicious look. Race and the others just looked amused. Again, today was not my day. I was tired of being tired.

"As I was saying," Race said. Oops, interrupting. Bad Cayla, "We've been really lucky the last few months. Surge and Company hasn't attacked in awhile. This vacation should give us even more time to relax. There's no way they could know we're here."

I _knew_ it! I picked the worst possible time to be at the Quest Compound! No attacks, fighting, anything! Not that I wanted to _die _or anything, because that's always a possibility, but maybe a little fight? 

Well, as fascinating as this was, I wanted to talk about something I understood. The adults were talking about politics and Hadji seemed to know what they meant, but Jonny seemed as confused as me.

Then, I heard, "But the children won't want to stay around the palace all day. I'll arrange for an escort to take them out into the city." Now Hadji's Mom was talking my language!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well, the city wasn't very interesting. The only good thing was I got a crash course in etiquette from Hadji, "We don't refer to her with title. She's a close friend of the Quest's and she is my Mother. You don't need to use a title. And don't bow. That's another unnecessary thing that you don't need to do."

"OK," I said, "I was worried about offending her."

"Mother is very easygoing," Hadji said, "It would take a lot to offend her."

"But apparently it doesn't take a lot to offend you," Jonny said to me.

"What?" I asked.

"You were so crabby today, snapping at me and moving your seat. What did I do?" he asked.

What a typical man! "You said I looked tired and you didn't think I had gotten enough sleep!" I said, "If I looked that bad, didn't it occur to you that maybe I didn't need someone to say it?"

He looked surprised, "I was concerned. If you were still tired, you could've gone back to bed. No one would've minded."

I sighed "You just don't understand."

"Apparently not," he agreed.

We didn't speak for the rest of the tour.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dinner was fabulous. I couldn't repeat the names of any of the dishes if I tried, but it was great. We sat in the dining room afterwards and talked about really nothing in general. I can't remember how we got o the subject, but I asked about the palace's guard, "It scared me this morning. I went outside to try to find someone familiar, and there was a huge guy outside of my room with a sword hanging from his belt."

Hadji's Mother laughed, "You did nothing wrong. We put guards outside of all guest's rooms for safety measures and he was also there to show you where we were. We didn't want you lost."

"Thanks," I said, "The palace is so big. I would never have found my way to the room you guys were in."

"Well," she said, "Jonny's room is right across from yours and Hadji's is on the right of yours. Dr. Quest and Race's are further along the passage. If you need to find your way and you don't wish to ask the guard, you'll know where to look for them."

"That's good to know," I said.

"The next few days will be more interesting," she said, "Today, I had legal problems to work out with some of the subjects."

"That's all right," I said, "Today was interesting."

"That's good," she said, "But you all look so tired. I'll have the guards accompany you to your rooms."

We all got up, "I guess this is about as safe as it gets," I said.

**__**

Then the lights went out... 

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Oooh, a cliffhanger ending! What's going on? Is there an attack? Or is it merely a power outage? **_Review_** and maybe I'll write the rest... *evil laugh* Till next time...


	5. The Attack and What Came Of It

****

Disclaimer's: Still don't own Jonny Quest and probably never will... Why do I even bother with this **Disclaimer's** thingy? Oh, well, just don't sue me...

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Now, as I've said before about other things, power outages at your and mine house wouldn't be that big of a deal, especially if there was a storm, but this was the palace, I was with the Quest's and Co. **_and _**there was no storm.

I felt someone grab my arm. After a brief second of panic, I recognized Race's cologne, and as my eyes got used to the darkness, I could make out his outline. He was dragging me towards a corner.

"Stay here," he said, "If this is an attack, they won't see you right away. No matter what happens, **_don't leave this corner_** unless _you_ are in mortal danger. I'm putting a guard in front of you. When the danger's over, if there's any, we'll come get you. Do you understand?"

"Yes," I whispered. Race nodded and walked towards the door once my guard was in place. No sooner did my guard draw his sword, than the window across the room from me exploded.

Well, I was betting this meant there was danger. At least I was safe in my corner and there was a guard in front of me. Now if only the lights would come back on and I could see everyone else. Where were Jonny and Hadji? And Hadji's Mom?

Through the window came people in black. How stereotypical. Couldn't they choose a different color? I almost slapped myself. Now was _not_ the time to be thinking of clothes. Now was the time to stay very quiet and pray to God that no one came to close to my corner.

The guard was in my way and I couldn't see any of the fighting, but the sounds certainly were descriptive enough. I could tell people were fighting, but I couldn't see whom it was, let alone who was winning. Well, if I can't see them, then hopefully they can't see me.

I heard a gunshot. Please, God. If they shot at one of my friends, let them have missed. Or let Race have gotten the pistol off of them and shot them. Or why don't you just make it all go away? The sounds were getting louder, which could mean they were getting closer. My guard certainly was getting more nervous. He kept moving back and forth. I still couldn't see even though my eyes had become used to the darkness completely by now.

Then I heard, "No!" shouted by Jonny. God, what's going on? Don't let one of my friends die here. Not tonight. Please!

It turned out it wasn't them I should be worried about. It was me. All of a sudden, my guard moved forward. It looked like he tripped over something. Then I saw the bad guy.

He was holding my guard's sword. I guess the reason my guard had stumbled forward was because they had pulled his sword away from him. I was feeling oddly calm. 

I am not here. I am far away. I'm back in Maine at Robbie's party. Or I'm at home, my home, in bed reading, with my puppy next to me, or... My thought wave trailed off as my guard was sliced through the stomach. He fell at my feet.

It was amazing. I could finally see what was going on beyond where I stood. Race was slicing someone's throat and Jonny was running towards me. What was so amazing about this was I didn't even stop to think about why I could finally see. I was about to die and it didn't even seem to matter.

Then it hit me: **_I'm going to die_**. My guard -**_I'm going to die_**- was dead. I watched -**_I'm going to die_**- him die in front of me. There is a -**_I'm going to die_**- guy with a sword standing in front of me. He was probably -**_I'm going to die_**- kill me. This is what happens when you wish something exciting would happen. 

I could hear Jonny yelling and Race yelling something back, but none of that really mattered now. Then, I heard a shot. At first, I thought the guy in front of me had shot me, but he had only had a sword. I was sure of that. Plus, I didn't feel any pain or discomfort.

Then, I realized that the guy in front of me wasn't holding a sword anymore. It was lying on the floor with blood on it. Someone had shot the sword out of his hand and had apparently gotten a nice piece of his hand along with it. Just as the guy turned around, a blossom of red appeared on his chest that rapidly got bigger. He fell and as my legs gave out, so did I...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Cayla!" I heard someone calling my name. I could see just fine. Jonny was kneeling in front of me and calling for me; I just couldn't get my mouth to work to answer him.

I was looking past him at my dead guard. He had died protecting me. I looked next to Jonny and saw the guy who had tried to kill me. I wondered who had killed him? Race? Jonny? One of the other guards? Did it really matter?

"**_CAYLA_**!" Jonny's yelling was getting louder. Go away, can't you see that I'm thinking?

"Cayla, talk to me. Are you hurt? Did you get grazed with the sword or a bullet? _Answer me_!" Jonny's voice was rising to hysteria. I still couldn't answer, only stare at the bodies. So much blood, all because of me...

"Race, what's the matter with her?" Jonny asked, "Why isn't she answering? She's still conscious. _Why isn't she answering_?" 

"Jonny, calm down. There's no blood. She didn't get hurt. She's just in shock. She could've died. Give her some space." Race pushed Jonny out of the way. He knelt in front of me, "Cayla? We're worried about you. If you can hear me, answer."

I can hear you I thought, I just can't make my mouth work. So much blood...

"Let's get her out of here," Race said. He moved to pick me up. _That _got my attention.

"**_Don't touch me_**!" I screamed. _That_ got _their_ attention. I didn't want any of them near me, not to mention I **_hate_** being picked up.

Race moved away and exchanged a look with Dr. Quest. Jonny moved back towards me. Not a good idea.

"**_Don't_**!" I yelled again. Race grabbed Jonny by the back of his shirt and hauled him backwards away from me. 

After Race and Dr. Quest looked at each other for awhile, Race walked back towards me and grabbed the back of my neck. Before I could scream at him again, he put almost unbearable pressure on his thumb and fingers. The last thing I remembered was Race saying, "Sorry munchkin, but-" Then it all went black...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I woke up with a headache. A look at the clock told me I couldn't have been unconscious for longer than 3 hours. It was 10:30 pm and I was all alone. That scared me for a moment before I remembered that Jonny was across the hall and Hadji was next door. I walked over to my dresser and pulled out my PJs. Once I put them on, I decided to go back to bed. It was late and I needed my sleep.

I haven't been afraid of the dark for a really long time, but all of a sudden, I was scared of every shadow on the wall. Even turning my lights on didn't help. I couldn't close my eyes. I'm paranoid by nature, and this made it even worse. 

After about 2 minutes of shaking under the covers, I got up and walked over to my door. when I opened it, I half suspected to see another guy in black holding a sword in my face. Another guard was stationed outside my door. This should've reassured me enough to go back to bed and try to sleep, but it didn't.

I smiled shakily at the guard and walked across the hall to Jonny's room. I'd just tell him that I was awake and that I was sorry for worrying him. I knocked on the door. 

The door opened to reveal a sleepy Jonny. When he saw me, though, he woke up instantly and went to give me a hug, but stopped short. 

"It's OK," I said "I feel better. I won't freak out on you."

He hugged me and I hugged back. I still felt shaky and almost unnaturally scared. He pulled me into the room and shut the door behind him. That was better, but not by much. He had a window and even with the blinds down, it still sent chills through me. He noticed and sat me down on the bed facing away from it. 

"Are you sure you're OK?" he asked, "You didn't get cut or grazed with either of the bullets that Race shot?"

"It was Race who shot the guy?" I asked. Jonny nodded, "And no, I didn't get hurt. I'm positive."

"Thank God," he said, "How are you otherwise?"

I almost said fine, but something stopped me. This was the first time Jonny and I had talked without at least one major disagreement. I wanted it to last.

"I don't know," I said.

He was silent before saying, "I wish I knew how to help you. It's been awhile since I first saw someone die."

The thought of the bodies sent another shudder through me. I didn't think the pictures would ever leave my mind. When I told him that, he said, "They probably won't."

He paused and went on, "Dad and Race are worried about you. They're afraid you'll have an emotional breakdown and then your Mom will be mad and won't let you stay the rest of the summer."

"I don't want to go anywhere," I said.

"What do you mean?" he asked, "No one will make you leave if you don't want to."

"It's all just a lot to take in," I said, "It makes me sick to my stomach to think of all the blood and," I started shaking all over again.

"Don't think about it," Jonny said, "My Dad and race will tell you that it's best to deal with it upfront, but until they talk to you, while you're here with me, forget about it. Don't make yourself crazy."

I could feel tears rolling down my face, "The bad guy deserved to die, but the guard didn't. He died protecting me."

"Don't say that," Jonny said, "It's not true."

"I wish I could think that," I said.

"We'll figure it out tomorrow," Jonny said, "Don't think about it now. Just go to sleep. You need it."

"I don't think I can sleep," I said, "I'm too paranoid," I paused This is not a good idea, but... "Could I stay here with you tonight?" I asked, "I just don't feel like being alone right now." Tears threatened to spill over again.

"Sure," Jonny said. He gestured to the messy bed, "One thing about this place. All the furniture is huge. We could fit about 3 more people in here."

I smiled wanly.

"Lie down and go to sleep," Jonny said, "I'll stay up a little longer and keep watch, if it would make you feel safer."

I nodded and lay down. I must have been really tired, because that's the last thing I remembered before blackness....

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well? How about them apples? I almost died and now I'm emotionally traumatized. Drama, action, and the beginnings of a romance. What more could you want? **_Review!_**


	6. A Nightmare

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Disclaimer's: Oh, why bother? 

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A man in black stood in front of me. A bloody sword was in his hand and he was getting closer...

No, not again. I tried to back up, but my legs wouldn't move.

_The sword was moving back and forth in front of my face, taunting me. I couldn't get away. I was backed into a corner that was supposed to protect me, but was only going to ensure my death..._

I _will not _die. Not yet, at least. Not here.

__

The sword got closer, closer to me. As I watched, frozen in fear, the man pulled the sword back and plunged it into my stomach. Pulling it out, he plunged it in again. 

I found my voice and screamed.

"Cayla!" I heard Jonny yelling.

__

Don't worry, I think I'm going to heaven. Maybe I'll see you there someday...

"Cayla, wake up!"

_You don't wake up from dying..._

I felt a stinging slap across my face and my eyes flew open. Where was I? This wasn't the dining room where I was stabbed. The lights are too bright. I can't see...

"Cayla!" Jonny's voice came again, "It's only a dream!"

My eyes adjusted to the light. I was in Jonny's room, in bed. Jonny was sitting next to me with his arms around me. I was still in one piece. I leaned against him and started to shake.

The door flew open, "Jonny, Cayla's not in her bed," Race said frantically, "She screamed and now we can't find her and-" He stopped short.

Great I thought This is so embarrassing. I screamed out loud and now everyone is even more worried... I realized Race was talking to Jonny again. He did _not_ look too happy...

"Now let's see," Race said, "Our room is 4 doors down. I don't think there's anyway that you could've heard her scream, get out of bed, go into her room, and bring her back here without us seeing you since we went running the second we heard her scream, too. Want to explain how it is that she's here, then?"

"Race," Jonny said, "I don't think you need me to explain anything. You've got your suspicions, and right now, I don't feel like proving you wrong. Don't you think we could discuss this when we all feel better? Especially her?" Jonny pointed to me.

Again with the slightly confused. What are they talking... **_OH! _**Race thinks that Jonny and I... For some reason, I felt like laughing. I almost died and Race thinks that is the first thing that comes to my mind? It's really funny. Either that, or I was bordering on being hysterical again...

Race looked at me, then back at Jonny, "We talk at breakfast," he said, then looked at me again, "You gonna be all right, munchkin?"

"Yeah," I said, "As well as I can be, at least."

"OK, then," he turned around with only a slight hesitation and went out into the hall. I could hear him saying that I was fine that it was just a nightmare, and why not go back to bed because everyone will feel better after some more sleep?

I lay back down on the bed and Jonny fell down next to me, "I didn't think they'd get that idea," he said.

"I thought that maybe they would sometime, but not right now, not after this," I said, "Maybe it's just the tension."

"Well, we had to here Race freak out sometime," Jonny said, "We might as well just add this onto the rest of the problems and deal with them all later. You think you can sleep?"

"I think so," I said, "'Night, Jonny."

"Good night."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I woke up at 1 pm the next day. So much for talking at breakfast... Where was Jonny?

I got out of bed and cautiously opened the door. The guard was still there. I walked across the hall to my room and went inside. Once I saw that it was safe, I closed the door and got dressed. Then, I went back into the hall.

"Excuse me?" I asked the guard, "Do you know where everyone is?"

"Right down here," he said, "They told me to bring you to them whenever you were well enough to come."

We walked down to the room that everyone had been in the first day we came. The guard let me in and I stepped inside.

The sight of everyone sitting on the pillows looking like they were at a funeral almost made me cry again. Jonny looked slightly angry and I figured Race got ahold of him before I came down.

Jonny got up and pulled me towards my pillow, which was next to him again. I didn't think I'd be moving it this time. When I sat down, Race asked if I felt any better.

"No," I said, "I don't feel better."

Race and Dr. Quest exchanged a small smile.

"What is so funny?" I asked, "In case you somehow managed to forget, people _died _here last night!" My voice was getting shriller.

They lost their smiles, "No, Cayla. That's not it at all," Dr. Quest said, "We are simply happy that you're not trying to pretend that _you're_ OK with people dying here last night."

"That's good to know," I said, "Now what?"

"What do you mean?" Jonny asked.

"I mean, what do we do now?" I asked, "What's going on?"

"We're leaving," Race said, "Surge and his henchmen somehow managed to find out where we were. We're more equipped to deal with them at home than here. We don't want to be the cause for more people losing their lives."

A lump rose in my throat, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" Hadji asked.

"If they know we're here," I said, "What's to stop them from shooting us out of the sky? They'll be expecting us to run."

"We killed all of the people they sent to attack us," Race said, "They have no way of guessing our next move. There is no way they can regroup another force to blow us out of the sky before we can get far enough away so that it won't matter."

"Why don't you eat something?" Hadji's Mom said, "Then you can pack and be all ready to go."

"Thank you," I said. I didn't want to leave. What was to stop them from having people waiting for us when we got back?

Before I could ask though, a servant brought me some breakfast, and once I was done, I was sent upstairs to pack.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Once the jet was loaded, we all said good-bye to Hadji's Mom and headed out for home. The plane ride seemed to take forever because I kept staring out the window, expecting to see a missile chasing us down.

Race came over and sat besides me, "How you holding up, munchkin?"

"I don't know," I said, "I feel so stupid for waking everyone up last night."

"Don't feel stupid. Nightmares are perfectly all right." He paused, "Speaking of last night..."

"I know what you're going to say," I said, "You already talked to Jonny; I could tell by the way he looked when I came down today. Nothing is going on, at least not like that. I woke up from a dead faint that I clearly remember _you_ causing," I said. Race winced, "I was very, very scared and I went to the person who was closest to get a little comfort. _That's all_. Now _chill out_."

Race looked me in the eyes. I stared back, "OK, I believe you," he said, "I never said I didn't. It was just-"

"It's OK," I said, "You were just being overprotective and you have a right to be."

"Thanks," he said.

"No problem," I said, "Would you leave me alone for a little bit? I need to think."

Race got up and went back to his seat. I went back to staring out the window, waiting for the attack that never came...

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Well, what do you think? Review and tell me. - The Management...


	7. Death Threat

****

Disclaimer's: ... Do we really need to do this again? Might I apologize for the misprint. The song in Chapter 2 is _"The Ghost of You and Me". _I got the words switched. Anyway... you think BB Mak could sue for that? And the guy's name is _Serd_, again, had problems with spelling...

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We've been back at the Quest Compound for 1 week. I again almost went home. It took 2½ hours on the phone with my parents before they agreed to let me stay. 

**__**

I don't go anywhere without 1 of the guys coming with me. That's my fault, though. I'm still paranoid. The only times I'm alone is in the shower and when I sleep. So really, I'm perfectly safe and my parents have no reason to worry... who am I kidding? If I don't think I'm safe, then my parents won't either. And do I feel safe here? Well, I felt safe in India and look what happened...

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"Dinner!" Race yelled.

Jonny, Hadji, and I ran down the steps. We had been doing some sort of exercises that Jonny said would be good for me. Now my back hurt and I was actually hungry. When I ate all of my dinner, Race was thrilled. He then shot Jonny a look and asked what the heck we had been doing because I looked exhausted. 

"Martial arts exercises," Jonny said, "Maybe she'd feel safer if she knows how to react to danger."

"Knowing how to react won't help her," Race said, "Not with trained assassins..."

I tuned them out. I just **_love_** how they like to talk about me like I'm not sitting right there and can't hear them...

I asked to be excused and deliberately went upstairs without 1 of the guys with me. My resolve lasted about 2 minutes. I ran back downstairs. Everyone stared at me.

"I just came for a glass of water," I said, "What are all of you staring at?"

"Nothing," they all chorused. Good for them. They know better than to act protective. It's my job to ask for help; Then they give it to me.

"Cayla, you want to go finish your training?" Jonny asked.

Good boy, make it my decision, "Sure." I said. The 3 of us ran back up the stairs.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I really hate you," I muttered to Bandit. 

Again I had awaken to the sound of, "Go get her, boy!" Again, I swore to kill his master. Again, I knew I wouldn't...

"**_WHAT?!?!_**" I screamed. 

Jonny's head popped into my room, "Calm down. Breakfast is ready and Race has news, so come on, get out of bed."

I rolled out of bed and said, "Can I get dressed?"

"Sure, "Jonny said, "But don't take too long. I want to hear what's going on." _Damn him..._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I was downstairs in 15 minutes. I poured myself some cereal when I discovered that the pancakes were made by Jonny and sat down witheveryone.

Race cleared his throat and said, "How do you guys feel about a trip?"

"Where?" I asked.

"To Russia," Race said, "To stay at the Embassy."

"Why?" I asked.

"The Doc and I have business to attend to over there. We just want to know if you guys want to come," Race said. He didn't meet my eyes.

"Race," I said, "Why are you lying?" _Please let this intuition be right..._

"What?" Race said a second too late.

Hadji shot me a look and nodded. Good, he could feel it, too. Jonny looked clueless...

"I can tell you're not telling us something," I said, "What's going on?" My paranoia was back.

Race sighed and said, "Go look at Caller ID."

Hadji, Jonny, and I walked over and saw it blinking. I pushed the button and read what it said, "Unavailable. Augusta, Maine."

Jonny turned to Race and said, "That's about an hour away."

Dr. Quest looked at us and said, "We didn't know who it was, so we let the answering machine pick it up."

I didn't need to ask to know it wasn't good. I walked over to the answering machine and hit play. A cold voice filled the room.

****

_"Benton, Race, I know you can hear me. You're sitting by the machine listening to me. Don't worry, I'm not spying on you. I just know how cautious you are, especially with a guest on board..."_

I felt sick...

**__**

"What was the girl's name? The 1 man who made it back to me alive couldn't quite recall. He bled to death soon after returning. Such a shame. He was a useful ally. He thought it began with a C or a K. I'd so like to find out her name. I doubt you'll tell me, so maybe she will. Are you listening, girl?"

Getting sicker by the minute...

**__**

"Can you hear me? He said you almost died but Race shot the other assassin before he could find out your name. You probably won't pick up the phone now, either. Do you realize what kind of danger you're in? What you're up against? Did they tell you what I can do? Do you know my name? I am Serd."

Definitely sick. I was going to faint after this was over. I wanted to faint now, but, it's not like you can choose to faint when you can't handle something. He was still talking...

**__**

"The time is 7:02 AM . You have 12 hours to leave, girl, because in 12 hours I'm coming with my elite militia and the Quests will be no more. Do you want die with them? Like you almost did in India? I hear a guard died saving you. Maybe you'll stay because you don't deserve to live. If you stay, I'll take you alive. I'd like to see what kind of person it takes to ignore this. I want to know your name..."

That was it. I'm falling...

**_"Soon, you'll meet Jeremiah Serd and die..."_**

That was the last I heard...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I woke up in my bed surrounded by everyone including Bandit. Jonny was holding my hand and Bandit was trying to lick my face. I sat up and was pushed back down.

"Don't move," Race said, "How many fingers are there?"

"2," I said. He sighed with relief and said, "No concussion."

I touched the back of my head and winced. There was a nice sized bump in the middle, "Ow."

"You need to pack," Race said, "That's what we all need to do. We're leaving for Russia ASAP."

"Good idea," I said, "There's another meaning for ASAP that fits even better."

"What?" Race said.

"Always Say A Prayer," I said, "We'll need to."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Race told me to pack all of my stuff. He wasn't sure when (if) we'd be back. I was done in an hour. Race helped me bring it all downstairs with everyone else's stuff. They had apparently packed everything they wanted, too. We loaded and took off.

"The Embassy has trained military guards," Jonny said, "And Madame President is great. Not as good as Mrs. Singh, but still great. It's safe," he said, looking at me.

"No where's safe," I murmured. Jonny kissed my forehead and then, I went to sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well, how's that for a surprise? _The_ Jeremiah Serd wants an introduction to little old me! Should he get one? **_Review_** with some more action ideas. I need help, considering the only thing Robbie told me was to use swords in the palace.

**_And _** should I romanticize the situation between me and Jonny now or wait awhile? Robbie, don't say anything, I know you hate the whole romance plot to begin with!

I hope you like this so far. Don't applaud, just send roses! 

Ja ne! The Management...


	8. Russia and Fairy Tales.... Not a Good Co...

****

Disclaimer's: And we're back to this.... Don't sue me, K? 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Race had apparently explained the situation to Madame President, because she didn't even look fazed when we landed on the roof and entered through the top flight of steps on floor 7 billion and walked all the way down to floor 1 where her office thing is(That's how it seemed to me. I was still tired and feeling kinda dizzy, but Race definitely didn't need to hear that).

She also had the Embassy guards flocking around us. I couldn't see anything in front of me or behind me because my view was blocked by guards. Jonny and Hadji were on either side of me and didn't have a problem with any of this. They had been exceedingly calm about the answering machine message and seemed quite at ease here. _I hate them..._

Madame President was in her office. Another guard opened the door for us and we walked in.

"It's wonderful to see you all again," she said, "Unfortunately under such awful circumstances. Come here, Jonny. Let me see how you've grown." He always was her favorite, that much I knew from the show. He kissed her cheek and she smiled.

"And here's Bandit," she said, "Whenever I know you're coming I always have plenty of these." She pulled out a box of dog biscuits and gave 1 to Bandit, who settled down in the corner with it, never taking his off of us. Even the dog could tell how nervous everyone was.

"Hadji, Benton, Race, it's good to see you, too, and your guest. What's your name, dear?" she asked.

"**_I want to know your name..." _**

Serd's voice came back to haunt me. I couldn't speak for a moment. I just stood there. My manners have only improved since I left home. Everyone was looking at me, especially Race.

I blinked and forced myself to answer, "My name is Cayla."

"As I told the others, it's wonderful to see you, except under such awful circumstances. Any friend of Jonny's is welcome here. How was your flight?"

"I slept through most of it," I said, "It was a long morning."

"I can only imagine," she said, "Your bags have been taken to your room. We'll show you where they are at bedtime. We don't want you too far away today, so I'm afraid sightseeing is out of the question. All of the entertainment here is on the first floor where we are now. Jonny and Hadji will no doubt show you around."

"If we could have a word with you," Race said, looking at us kids, "Alone."

That was our cue to leave. Jonny and Hadji took me to what we would call a den in our houses. This den however was as big as my house. the boys turned on video games, but I sat there and watched them. Dr. Quest and Race came into the den and took the boys out of the room with them for a minute. They all came back in together. Jonny handed me a cross-shaped pin.

"It's a transmitter," he said, "If you need us or we get separated, push the stone in the middle. It'll send out a signal. We all have a receiver." He showed me a small box that was pinned to his shirt pocket, "All the guards have 1, too. Someone will always be around to help if you need it."

"Serd can find me here, can't he." I phrased it as a statement, not a question.

"If he looks hard enough," Race said, "He could find you anywhere. that's why we didn't take you home. We can protect you to some extent. We didn't want to endanger your parents, too."

I said nothing. There was nothing to say. 

"Stay on this floor today," Dr. Quest said, "That's where we'll be, too. We go as a group. If not a group, we split it as either you 3 kids together, or Cayla and Race and you 2 boys with me. We aren't taking any chances. there's only a small chance that Serd can find us tonight, but if he does, we'll be ready."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Well, Madame President knew how to keep her word. We kept ourselves occupied until bedtime, when we were shown our rooms. Since we weren't allowed to be alone, here's the sleeping arrangement: In 1 room, we have Dr. Quest and Race, each with their own single bed. In the room next to them was Jonny, Hadji, and me, the boys in a double bed, me in a single one next to them. No one was alone and there were guards everywhere.

We didn't even bother unpacking. Race told us we weren't staying anywhere longer than 2 or 3 days so hopefully Serd wouldn't catch up. This meant I would be seeing a lot of different countries, learning about different cultures, and picking up great souvenirs. If only I wasn't running from almost certain death. Oh well, you can't have everything...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The attack didn't come that night, but I wasn't too relieved. We left that night and I hadn't seen an inch of the Embassy, let alone any of Russia. All I had was the view from the windows. At least I could say I had been to Russia. I swear, when I get back home (if I do) none of my friends will believe my summer.

"Come on, breakfast time," Jonny told Hadji and I, "I'm hungry."

That's right, we also weren't allowed to leave our rooms without all the other people in it. The same went for Dr. Quest and Race. No one could be alone.

We went down and ate a quick breakfast. It was no fun eating in Russia if you can't enjoy being in Russia for longer than 2 days. We were going God knows where next. the plans were a secret to everyone except Race. We'd find out when we got there.

On the tour of the Embassy that followed (finally, somewhere besides the first and second floors), I discovered a huge library. 

"There are books from almost everywhere in here," Madame President said, "Many of your great American classics and ones from our country as well as others."

I knew where I'd be until we left. After the tour, the boys brought me back and we all sat and read for the remainder of the day until dinner. Or rather, Hadji and I read, while Jonny looked for a book that had pictures. He's not stupid, it's just that visual aides help everyone. 

When he couldn't find any, I said, "Come read this with me. It's a book of German fairy tales. It's the original Grimms Brothers fairy tales. Even you should be able to like this."

In case you don't know, the Grimms fairy tales are much more violent and graphic than the Americanized version. They all usually take place in the Black Forest. Like in Hansel and Gretel, the witch isn't shoved in an oven and turned into a gingerbread cookie that the kids eat. The kids escape and bring the whole village back with them and they burn the witch at the stake. After about 2 such fairy tales, Jonny had enough and went and sat with Hadji. I find it interesting to read the original versions of stories. Philistines... 

Madame President said that was a common book here in Russia as well as Germany, and that I could take it with me. I thanked her about 27 times. This is a souvenir that I could use forever, not to mention read on the plane ride to Mystery Town, Planet Earth.

Dinner was... interesting to say the least. I got to try authentic Russian cuisine. I do not like borsht (beet soup), nor did I enjoy some kind of meat that I thought it best not to ask about. Leeks are good, though, and so is bread, so it was a soup and crackers kind of night. I didn't feel bad, though. Jonny almost choked when Madame President, remembering my like of fairy tales, told us about some Russian ones that rivaled Grimms in the gory department. That wasn't too bad, but when I remarked to him that the meat he was eating could very well be _anything. _(He was remembering the fairy tale called The White Snake). I'm a really cruel person sometimes, but everyone _else_ thought it was funny...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After dinner, we had to take our bags back up the zillion flights of steps to floor 7 billion and onto the roof again. Once everything was loaded, we had to say good-bye to Madame President, who was sorry to see us go.

Race hugged her good-bye and said that we might double back here for another visit if Serd didn't get too close. We all hugged her good-bye (she got teary-eyed when Jonny hugged her) and got into the jet. As we closed the door, I heard her say, "Dosvidanya." which I later learned meant, "Go with God." then, we left. Race still wasn't saying where we were going...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well, how's that? Where should we go next? I'm running low on places to go that will be relatively safe to hide. this is where you people come in. **_REVIEW!!!!!!! _**

Ja ne! The Management


	9. Columbia and a New Friend

****

Disclaimer's: |)0|\|t $|_|(- |\/|(- ... aka Don't sue me. A friend taught me leetspeak...Pretty cool, huh? Hey, Disney, don't sue me, either. Think about what I say...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Where are we going?" That was the fourth time I had asked Race that question since we left the Embassy. Jonny and Hadji had each asked 3 times. We were taking turns.

"You'll see when we get there," Race was losing his patience with us. Tough luck, we lost our patience about 7 hours ago.

I went back to my seat with the boys, "This is ridiculous!" I said, "It's not like anyone but us is going to hear this."

Jonny and Hadji nodded, "Why don't you see if Dad knows?" Jonny said, "He's easier to get information out of."

"He's _your _Dad," I said, "You ask."

"You're the 1 who wants to know so bad," Jonny said.

"You want to know, too," I yelled.

"Race, would you just tell them where we're going?" Dr. Quest yelled, "Before they kill each other."

Race whispered something.

"What?" I yelled.

"You would've heard me if you weren't screaming," Race said, "Shut up and I'll tell you again."

We shut.

"We are going to Columbia," he said.

"What's in Columbia?" I asked.

"Jessie," Jonny said.

"Oh."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

To make a long story short, we were going to stay with Jessie and Estella for awhile. According to Race, no one would think to look for us in the middle of a major archaeological excavation. Apparently Estella was supervising some old temple being dug up and she said it would be nice to see everyone again.

She also mentioned that Jessie wanted to meet me. Great.

Now what am I supposed to say, "Hi, I'm the girl who's staying in your room while you're gone."? With Jonny's big mouth and my temper, this was not going to be fun. I mean, it wouldn't have been too fun anyway, since we're trying to avoid _death_, but it could've been _civil_, at least.

Please, oh please, oh _please_ let this go OK. Don't let Serd find us and don't let Jessie and me hate each other. That just might snap Race all together...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Going to Columbia in the middle of the summer is not for the faint hearted. It's hot. Now, I don't just mean hot. I mean **_HOT. _**When we landed, it was about 93.3 degrees and we landed at 7:27 in the morning. I didn't even want to**_ think _**what it would be like around noon. And we were dressed for the chilly weather of the Czech Republic. 

When Race said we would go to the dig to see everyone and get unpacked, we did so by landing about 20 feet from the half dug up temple (much to the crew's annoyance). 

Much to Estella's annoyance, too, because that meant the crew had to help unload the jet, carry our things to our tents (yes, **_tents_**), not to mention direct Hank to a different place to park, therefore losing valuable working time. She hugged Race when he got off the jet... and proceeded to give him a 20 minute long lecture on the fact that she had a dig to do and if he interfered in any way more than he already had, she'd kill him. The funny thing was, I believed her. So did Race.

When she was done chewing Race out, Jonny introduced me, everyone hugged, and we went to our respective rooms. When the guys were done getting settled, they took me over to my tent. There was stuff in it already. Yes, you guessed it. I was rooming with Jessie. The only question was, where was she? I soon found out....

"Hello?" A high voice came floating through the air, "Where is everyone? Dad?" Guess who. (If you can't, you haven't been paying attention in the slightest...)

A tall girl with red hair came into the tent. (By now, I'd realized the hair color was _definitely _from Estella). Everyone started talking at once.

"Jess, it's great to see you..."

"Hey, Ponchina. How have you been? Taking care of your Mom?"

"Did you get me a cool artifact from the dig?" Jonny...

"You've gotten taller...."

"It's great to see you all! Find your own artifact!"

"OK, I will. Take me to the dig!"

"In your dreams!"

"Cool it, you two. You can see the dig later."

"Hadji, how's your Mom?"

If I snuck out to the jet, do you think they'd notice I was gone? Maybe I could try it...

"Cayla, come meet Jessie."

No such luck. **_Now_** they notice me...

I walked over to Jessie. We each gave each other an up and down look and locked eyes. You could've cut the tension with a knife...

At the same time we both smiled. Thank God.

"It's nice to finally meet you," I said, "When I came for the summer, I thought you'd be there, but I got stuck with these 4 all by myself."

"Sorry," she said, "Why do you think I left? I couldn't take them anymore." We both laughed.

"Does this mean you 2 like each other?" Jonny asked.

Jessie and I gave him a look and said, "_Yes_."

"_Sorry_," Jonny said, "I was just asking..."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So, what was it, exactly?" I asked Estella. Jessie and I were being intelligent about this. Jonny and Hadji were running through the work area asking questions. Boys will be boys...

"Well," Estella said, "It appears to be an Aztec temple, and since there is no solid proof that an Aztec civilization existed in this part of the country, this is a major breakthrough."

"How could a whole temple get buried?" I asked, "Was it a natural disaster, or something else?"

"Yeah, Mom," Jessie said, "The outline dig area isn't nearly deep enough for a whole temple to be buried."

"We've uncovered the roof and what seems to be part of the columns that would hold the roof up," Estella said, "It appears that maybe the roof collapsed under the weight of the rocks and dirt above it. The rest of the temple is thought to be located some feet to the left. Once we've dug up the roof and columns, we'll excavate the rest. It's like a jigsaw puzzle. We do it piece by piece."

A workman came up and started to speak to Estella in the native dialect form of Spanish. I caught a few words: Estella's name and a few swear words. Be proud, I can swear in 5 different languages, 7 if you count pig Latin and Ubbi Dubbi.

"Girls, if you'll excuse me," Estella said, "There are some problems in the digging site."

"Can we come?" Jessie asked.

"I'd rather you didn't this time, sweetie," Estella said, "I don't know how long it will take and you should spend time with your father while he's here." She hurried off with the worker.

"Maybe we should go get Jonny before he annoys the workers into throwing him into the digging pit." I suggested.

"Maybe we should throw him in there ourselves to teach him a lesson." Jessie said, "It might work."

"Knowing him, he'd either manage to climb out, or break a priceless artifact," I said.

"That sounds about right," Jessie said, "Maybe we should tie him up somewhere. Keep him out of their way and out of trouble."

"I don't think it's possible to keep him out of trouble," I said.

"Probably not," Jessie agreed, "Danger seems to follow him wherever he goes. It's a shame you had to get mixed up in it and have your vacation ruined."

"I wouldn't say ruined," I said, "It's a lot more exciting than what I'd be doing at home. At least I get to say I've been to all sorts of places and maybe pick up some souvenirs."

"Speaking of souvenirs," Jessie said, "Maybe we should go make sure Jonny isn't picking up any from the work site."

"Hadji wouldn't let him," I said.

"Jonny's pretty sneaky."

"Hadji knows to pay attention when it comes to Jonny," I said, "Especially if he knows how great the temptation is."

Jessie grinned.

"As a matter of fact," I said, "I wouldn't be surprised if your Dad and Dr. Quest have Jonny on a leash right about now. They know better, too."

"Let's go see the dig," Jessie said.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

We found Jonny and Hadji with Dr. Quest, Race, and Estella, not to mention about a billion half dressed, Spanish speaking workers. I wish I had my camera to get the look on Jonny's face. 

"This is... great, Estella," Jonny said, "There's a lot of... dirt dug up already."

"Well, dear," Estella said, "This is a relatively new dig. We've only marked off the expected area for recovery of material and made the outline dig. In another 3, 4 weeks, we might reach the roof and columns of the temple."

"See, Jonny," I said, "Patience is a virtue."

"One you don't have," Jonny muttered.

"That's why I'm not going to be an archeologist," I said.

"You need patience in everything," he said.

"Yes, and I have enough to become a graphic animator," I said, "That's more than enough for me."

"What do you want to design?" Estella asked.

"I want to be an animator for Disney movies," I said.

"_Disney_?" Jonny said, "That's all?"

"That's what I want," I said, "And Disney happens to have 1 of the highest standards of workers out of any major animating company. You have to be the best of the best. And I'm going to be _that_ good, so _yes_, _that's_ all."

"Touche," Race said, "I think she's got you there, Jonny."

"I yield," Jonny said.

"Good," I said, "So, what was the problem Estella? I caught a few choice words out of what that guy was saying."

"The press is getting rather anxious and is fairly beating a path to the site," Estella said.

"It's not like they'd see much," Jonny muttered.

"They'd see enough to write a few trashy articles and ruin the dig's publicity," Jessie said.

"That's right," Race said, "The press is known for making wild assumptions about things that no one has seen."

"So there would be no one to prove them wrong," Estella finished. You can tell the whole family was on the same wavelength.

Estella looked at her watch and said, "You all must be starving. Let's go eat."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I didn't like Russian food, but I liked the Spanish food a lot. I can deal with tacos and burritos. Just maybe a little too spicy. And a word from the now wiser: **_Never_**, if you value your taste buds, put a dried hot pepper in your mouth. You will need about 4 glasses of water before you can even _breathe_ again.

We decided to go back to the dig after lunch. They were blasting with dynamite and it was cool to watch all of the dirt go flying. Jonny still wanted to see the temple, but that could take awhile and we got bored quickly. It's neat to see the dirt get blown up once or twice, but then it gets old **really** fast...

"So, what is there to do for fun around here?" Jonny asked.

"Do you guys have bathing suits?" Jessie asked.

We all said yes and then went to change. Jessie told her Mom we were going swimming and we set off. **Water!**

It didn't take us too long before we were at the... well, you could call it a lake. Jonny asked if it were a watering hole in previous years and got smacked for it. There was a manmade reservoir about a mile away that was used as the supply of water for the dig. A stream connected where we were to it. At least it was fresh water and there were no large fish or algae of any kind. I thought I saw some little minnows, though...

The water was awesome. It felt great to just float and relax...

**_SPLASH!_**

"Jonathan Quest!" I screamed. The evil little fiend had jumped into the water directly were I was floating. He landed about 1 foot to the right of my face and sent up a tidal wave. So much for relaxing...

I went underwater and stayed there for about 30 seconds before I began to move towards him. About 2 more inches and...

"What the..?" Jonny was cut off as he was dragged under water. I used him as a lever and pushed up towards the surface. After taking a deep breath, I swam away quickly.

"What the _hell_?" Jonny finished his sentence as he broke through to the surface. I was floating where I had been when he nearly drowned me. I didn't look like I had moved at all. None the less... here he comes.

"What did you do that for?" he yelled.

"Do what?" I asked.

"You dunked me!" he yelled.

"No, she didn't," Jessie said.

"It's true, my friend," Hadji said, "She has been floating here the whole time."

I grinned.

"Whatever happened to you," I said, "Was not my fault, even though you deserved a little dunking." 

Jonny glared at Jessie and turned to Hadji, "I expected the girls to band together and pull some crazy stunt," he told him, "But not you."

"Truly, my friend," Hadji said, "You did indeed deserve a dunking. As Pasha would say, 'What goes around comes around.'"

Jonny got out of the water and sulked for awhile. Then, when the rest of us were done, we all walked back to camp.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

We were forced to hang around camp by the adults until dinner time. They wanted us where they could see us. After all, we were supposed to be in mortal danger, and if Serd found us somewhere where the adults weren't, we were as food as dead.

Dinner was the same as lunch, except there was more of it. Afterwards, we all went outside and I did some stargazing.

The constellations were all the same, just from different angles. I had my notebook and star book out and was trying to record the sky in halfway decent detail. Jonny sat down next to me.

"I'm sorry," he said.

That surprised me. He doesn't apologize often.

"I'm sorry, too," I said, "I think we're all a little tense."

"A little doesn't describe the look on your face," he said.

I turned towards him, "How do I look?" I asked.

"Besides pretty?" he asked, "Scared, but trying not to show it."

"I am," I said.

"Pretty?" he asked.

"Scared," I said, "I have no opinion on the pretty part."

He put his arm around my shoulder, "Nothing's going to happen to you. We won't let it."

"It's not your choice," I said, "No one wants to die."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jessie and I lay in our sleeping bags that were set up on cots in our tent.

"You and Jonny like each other, don't you?" she said.

"Yeah," I said, "Is it that obvious?"

"Yeah," she said "At least with him. I didn't know you liked him until tonight when we were by the fire."

"Does that upset you?" I asked.

"You mean, do I have a crush on Jonny?" she asked, "No, I don't. We're too close. I've always liked Hadji more in a romantic sense. It's nice Jonny has you, at least for the summer."

"Yeah, but do I have him?" I asked, "He's not exactly the cuddly kind of person."

"You have him," she said, "He wouldn't apologize to you unless he had some reason to hope you won't hate him."

"I know," I said. I yawned," Could we continue this in the morning? I'm beat."

"No prob," she said, "Good night."

"Good night." As I went to sleep, I prayed nothing would happen to us tonight. Or ever.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well, how was that? I incorporated Jessie in there, like someone asked me to. I pay attention to reviews, so help me out here a little, K? **_Review! _**I hope you're enjoying this. Robbie, I'm sorry, but romance is a must, but you know I still love you best!

Ja ne! The Management

**__**


	10. Psychics and Tigers and Knives, Oh My!

****

Disclaimer's: Here we go again... I haven't magically acquired ownership of JQ, nor will I ever... |)0|\|'T $|_|(- |\/| (-... Robbie likes the (-... And maybe someday it will be Robbie in his lonely mansion in Maine, not the "selfish" JQ...

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No attack. I woke up alive, unharmed, and not kidnapped. Well, I guess prayers really do get answered...

Race had mixed emotions, "On 1 hand, it's good Serd hasn't found us..."

"Duh!" I said, "Did you **_want_** him to find us?"

He ignored me, "On the other hand, he should be close. He probably is and is just choosing not to attack. Why? What's he waiting for? What's he after?"

**_Me_**... Yeah, I know that's kinda irrational since the guy's never even met me, but still...

Race continued, "He probably wants to make us think that he can't find us and make us careless. That won't happen. You kids stay at camp with an adult **_at all times_**, do you understand?"

Nod, nod, nod, nod...

"Good," he said, "I mean it." He got up and left the table.

Race had a good point, but... I wanted to go swim! It was still hot here, you know...

"Can I have his bacon?" Jonny asked.

"It's not bacon," Estella said, handing him Race's half eaten breakfast, "It's wild boor."

The green look on Jonny's face almost cheered me up...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I was meditating. So was Hadji. So was Jessie. As for Jonny...

"Hey, watch this!" he yelled for the fourth time. He was attempting a new karate move that we had seen him mess up 3 times. None of us wanted to look again.

**Calm**, I thought. Waters ripple and flow... Where did I hear that song before? Ninth grade Spring Concert... It was a lullaby kind of song, really relaxing....

"I said, **_look at me_**!" Jonny called.

Not listening...

"Really guys, I can do the flip now!" he said, "Look!"

He needs to **_SHUT UP!_**

I became aware of a slight disturbance. My eyes popped open. Rocks were hitting Jonny. Granted, they were little rocks, but they still hurt **_and no one was throwing them!_**

"What the...?" I said.

Hadji and Jessie were running towards him. I got up and said, "Stop!"

The rocks fell and hit the ground. The 3 of them turned and looked at me. Hadji was staring at me. I could feel him in the edges of my mind. He smiled.

"Well done," he said.

"What?" I said, "I didn't do that!"

"Yes, you did," he replied calmly, as if he were saying the weather was nice.

"I couldn't have," I said. No way...

"You wanted him to shut up," Hadji said.

"Yeah, we all did," Jessie said.

"But, Cayla was in deep meditation, almost a trance," Hadji said, "All the parts of her mind that she doesn't normally use were opened. She made the rocks fly."

"I couldn't have!" I said, "I'm no psychic!"

"Just telekinetic," Jonny muttered.

"I didn't throw the rocks," I said, "They kept going after I was out of my trance."

"But, they stopped when you willed it," Hadji said.

"Look," Jessie said, "Stranger things have happened, but we can test this easily enough. have her meditate again, and Jonny can annoy her."

That was what we agreed on. If I was moving things mentally, then it was something we needed to tell the adults about.

I tried to get back to where I had been. What was that song? Waters ripple and flow...

"Cayla!" Jonny yelled, "Look at me!"

Shut up... Waters ripple and flow...

"**Cayla**!" 

Something needs to make him **SHUT UP!**

I opened my eyes. No rocks. 

"See," I said, "Nothing to..."

Tiger. Yes, you read it right. **Tiger**.

As in, there was a tiger standing about 2 feet to my right looking a me. Walking towards Jonny and Hadji, granted, but looking at **me**.

"Hadji," I said shakily, "There's a tiger looking at me."

"I realize that," Hadji said, "Say something to it."

"**What do you say to a tiger?**" I asked.

"How about 'Let's not eat Jonny'?" Jonny said.

Here goes...

"Are you a nice tiger or a bad tiger?" Wonderful, just wonderful...

The tiger just looked at me. It clearly wasn't impressed.

"Are you listening to me?" Like the tiger can answer...

"A little help here!" I said to Hadji, "You're the expert on this kind of stuff."

Hadji took a step towards me. He stopped as the tiger growled. Oops...

"No," I said, "Don't eat him. He's a friend." This was going well, don't you think?

I stared into the tiger's eyes and (this was _by far _the dumbest thing I'd _ever_ done in my life) walked over to it.

"Cayla," Jonny said, "That doesn't seem like a good idea."

Yeah, I know, but something in its eyes said that it wouldn't hurt me... Just the others. I kept going.

The tiger didn't appear to have a problem with me. Finally, something fun! What am I saying?

I was now about a foot away from the tiger. Still, no sign of attack. Hey, look what I can do...

I touched it. Yes, I touched the ferocious, man-eating tiger. And (best of all), I was alive.

"I think it likes me," I said. Jonny was green.

"And they thought you would hurt me," I said to the tiger. Not only was I talking to the tiger, _I _thought the tiger would hurt me, so I had no room to talk...

"Cayla!" I heard Race scream, "Move!" He was holding a rifle. Uh oh...

"No!" I yelled, "It's a **_good _**tiger!" Boy, that sounded convincing... But it worked. Race put the gun down in surprise.

"A **_good_** tiger?" he said. Yeah, this could take some explaining...

"It's... **my** tiger!" I said. Brilliant...

Race walked over towards me and the tiger jumped and growled. I touched its back "**NO**, he's a friend, too."

The tiger relaxed. Race's jaw was on the ground. So was everyone else's. I had an audience now...

"What's going on?" Estella asked.

"Well," I said, "It's really kinda funny, and to make a long story short, I'm kinda mind linked to the tiger."

"Mind linked?" Race said. He turned to Jonny and Hadji, "Why do I get the feeling this is **_your_** fault?"

So now, Jonny and Hadji had to tell the whole story, rocks and all. Race was looking almost amused, "Jonathan Quest, see what happens when you make a pest of yourself? Your girlfriend sends a tiger after you."

Then, he turned to me, "I think it's time for you to unlink now. Send the tiger home."

"I don't know how," I said, "It's not like I've practiced this, you know."

Race exhaled loudly, "Well, what now?"

"Leave me alone for a minute." I was trying to think...

"Oooh, what if I tell it to go away?" I asked, "Hadji, you think it will listen?"

"It's your tiger," Hadji said.

"No, it's not," Race said, "We are _not_ taking the tiger home with us. And that's final."

"Could we take it to India?" I asked, "It's the first tiger I've ever linked to."

"NO!" Race said.

"Fine!" So much for fun...

"You need to go home now," I said. The tiger looked at me.

"Go home," I said, "I'm sorry, I don't need you to eat anyone right now. Maybe later."

"No!" Race said.

I ignored him, "Hey, pretty boy, why don't you tell me your name, and if I need you, I'll call."

I heard a low growl echo through my mind and I got the impression of a purr that formed the word Rishi.

"Bye, Rishi," I said, "You have a pretty name." 

Rishi walked back into the jungle and all around the campsite, you heard sighs of relief.

Hadji smiled and said, "Do you know what Rishi means?"

"No," I said.

"It means 'Seer'," Hadji said, "He must be very important among his pack."

"See, Race?" I said, "I didn't make friends with some second class, lowlife tiger. I picked the Elder!"

Race just looked at me.

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News travels fast. By lunch, everyone knew I had contacted a tiger. People either avoided me or tried to spoil me rotten.

"Go pack, guys," Race said, "We leave soon. We don't want Serd to catch us lying down."

We all went and packed our things together. I got Jessie's address so I could write and tell her where we were and where we would be going. Race had everything loaded and ready to go at a moments notice.

"You guys can hang around camp a little while longer, but be ready to move soon." Race said, and walked off towards Estella.

"I don't know why they just don't get back together," Jonny muttered, "They spend enough time together."

"Daddy has too many girlfriends and Mom has too many jobs to do," Jessie said, "It'd never work. They didn't get divorced because they didn't love each other. They did it because they couldn't fit each other into their busy schedules."

That kinda killed the conversation, so we made small talk for the next hour or so. Then Race decided that we'd better get moving. This was followed by tons of tearful goodbyes, especially with Race and Jessie. Then we headed towards the plane.

**_That's when the knife was pushed up against my throat..._**

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What do you know? Psychics and tigers and knives, oh my! What am I going to do about all these people who want to kill us? **_Review_** and give me ideas! Ja ne! Cayla....


	11. Death of a Friend of the Furry Kind

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Disclaimer's: Who here thinks I should stop trying to be funny with these and just write I don't own it? If you think I should stop being a comedian, write it in a review and tell me... On with the fic!

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"Race," I gasped out. It wasn't any louder than a whisper, and Race didn't even turn around.

"Race!" There, a full-fledged, panicky, call. Perfect.

Race turned around fast and dropped into a cat stance. He was looking past me at whoever had me by the throat. Jonny, Hadji, and Dr. Quest were also looking. I couldn't see any of the people behind me, though.

Stop worrying about who's looking at you and worry about getting your throat slit open. I told myself. They won't kill me yet, the irrational thought came to me, Serd won't know my name if they kill me. By the time this summer is over, I'll be ready for the insane asylum...

Race was talking, "Lorenzo, let the girl go."

Lorenzo... yeah, that's one of Serd's henchmen, all right...

His response? He tightened his grip. I could feel the knife getting **_way _**too close to my bare skin for comfort....

"Race!" I said again. He gave me a look that stated "Keep your cool, we'll get you out of this." Yeah, right...

Lorenzo seemed to think that my screaming wasn't such a good idea, either. The knife went closer and this time, drew the faintest bit of blood, "Shut up."

Fine, have it **_your_** way, but if I'm going to die, I will **_not_** die without a dramatic scream first! Positive thinking has just gone down the porcelain pee hole. Then I did a rather dumb thing...

"Could you not dig that in so close. I'm assuming Serd wants us or at least me alive, or you would've killed me right away," I said, "And that knife's cold."

Jonny shot me a look like, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" So did Lorenzo, apparently, because Race shot me a look of warning.

" I said **_shut up_**!" Lorenzo said.

"**FINE**!" No sense of humor....

I suddenly noticed something. On the cartoon, a distraction is usually everyone's cue to try to get closer or attack. They were doing neither of these things **_and _**my throat was cut. Not a deadly cut, granted, but **_still_**, _a little help would be nice _. I decided to shut up and wait patiently (for now).

Things were getting boring (if you can say that any time while a knife is in your throat could be **boring**...). Race says Lorenzo should let me go; Lorenzo says no. Enough talking! **_Rescue me!_**

Hadji was giving me a look like I should know what to do, but I didn't. It's not like I have knives up against my throat every day, you know!

Then, I was moving. Or rather, I was **being **moved.

"**_RACE_**!" I yelled. I was very worried now. No one was moving to come help me! I was going to die. Yes, that's right, I was **actually** going to die. Maybe not _right away_, but once Serd got me, yeah, I was going to die.

Where were they taking me? It's not like another jet or something could've landed nearby without us knowing it. And why did they only send **1** henchmen? There had to be backup _somewhere_....

_Now_ everyone was moving. They were all slowly closing in. Thank God.... And **_here's_** the backup!

"Julia, take the girl," Lorenzo said. He handed me to a tall lady with a gun. Not good, those kill you faster than a knife. Another weapon is being used to try to kill me. Do you see a pattern here? 

Lorenzo and the rest of the "elite militia" was going after Jonny and company. Julia wasn't as strong as Lorenzo, but I didn't feel like getting shot, so now was **_not_** the time to struggle...

Then, as I watched everyone start fighting martial arts style, an incredible calm floated over me. It was the same calm that had come when I was in India with the gun pointed at me. Then, I had wished to be home; Now, I had a new wish: to be numb. I didn't want to feel any of this. This state is known as shock.

Time to escape. Mentally, of course. **_Waters ripple and flow... _**There was that song again. I flowed away on the lullaby.

Then, it hit me. This was why Hadji had been shooting me looks. If I could go deep enough, I could (hopefully) call Rishi and maybe a few more tigers. Here goes...

**_Searching... _**There were a lot of animal minds to go through out there. Fortunately, I fund Rishi rather quickly.

**__**

Hello, it's me. I need your help. You can eat people now if you want, I promise. Bring some friends, too. There are lots of people to eat. HURRY! 

I stayed in the trance, searching for more animals who responded to my voice. I sent the same message out. Not bad. This was better than the telephone. I just hope it works...

I watched everyone fighting, still out of it. We seemed to be doing OK. None of my friends were dead or anything. Then, I heard the best sound on Earth: a roar. I think the cavalry's here!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, **7** tigers and **3** eagles. Not bad. Hey everyone, look what I can do! They stopped and looked at me.

**_Who do we attack? _**The puzzled voice came from almost every animal there.

**__**

You remember my friends from earlier? The ones you couldn't eat? Get the people who are attacking them and the one on me! I screamed.

The result was immediate. The 3 eagles and 6 of the tigers went after everyone else while Rishi came to my rescue. He put on an enormously good show of roaring at Julia and as he leapt, she dropped me and backed up. Rishi kept going.

"Stop!" I yelled as she raised the gun up at him, "Get away from her **_NOW_**!" I got to my feet as he leapt.

Orange fire sparked from the muzzle of the gun. My tiger fell in midair. 

"NO!" I screamed. The other tigers, alerted by the gun and my screams dropped the bloody people they were attacking and came running. I could see Lorenzo and 2 henchmen running for the woods. The rest were dead. Race came running towards me as Julia raised her gun again. 

Click, click. No bullets. I could've cared less.

**_Rishi! _**I said. The other tigers stared at me, trying to see what to do now.

Rishi's big golden eyes held mine as the light faded out of them.

**_Forgive me. _**I whispered. He didn't answer. He was gone.

The other tigers stared at me as I cried. They understood their leader was dead. They just didn't know why I was upset.

**_He is well in the Beyond. _**Another tiger said, **_Do not mourn for him. He died nobly._**

He died for me, I whispered, **_I cry because of that._**

I knew him well. He was my mate. the tiger said, **_He would not want you to cry, little one._**

Her name is Sashi, the thought came to me. **_Their cubs are Keshava, Sabre, Lanfear, Moghedian, Rand, De-aja, and Kimmi. They don't have a father now.. _**The thoughts wouldn't go away. I could tell the thoughts were from the other tigers' minds. I couldn't unlink to them. I was to tired to try. I just held Rishi's body and stroked his fur. **_He was such a good tiger..._**

"Cayla!" I could hear Hadji saying something, "We must leave now, before they can regroup. Unlink, please hurry!"

"Move!" I heard Jessie yell, "This isn't the time for guys!"

"We don't have time for anything!" Jonny yelled, "We have to go **now**!"

I could feel Jessie's arm around my shoulder, "You should let him go," she said, "I'm sure his friends want to take him home and pay the proper respect to him."

I looked at the other tigers, **_Take him home. Do whatever you do to honor him. I'm so sorry for all of this. _**The males dragged Rishi's body away and the females followed, growling quietly. Maybe it was a funeral song...

"Cayla," Jessie said, "Unlink. Give them some privacy."

I slowly let go of the trance and the tigers' voices faded from my mind. I got up and shook off Jessie's arm. I walked over to the jet and climbed in, "Race," I said shakily, "I want to go home now, please." He nodded.

Everyone got into the jet and we took off. I could tell they were all worried about me, but I didn't care. I just wanted to go home...

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Well, how was that? You like? A slight tissue warning, but, what can you do? REVIEW, please. Ja ne! The Management


	12. Jade... I Think That's All I Need To Say...

**Disclaimer's: **I'm bored with disclaimer's so... I just hope everyone reviews and tells me what country to go to and who to visit next. On with the newly sad fic...

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"Cayla?" Jonny said, "You feel like eating?"

"No."

All right, so I was being rude. Big deal. They should just leave me alone. I don't want to talk, I don't want to eat, and I don't want any pity, so **_stop trying already_**!

"I'm worried about her," Dr. Quest said, "She needs to talk to someone about this. She was almost killed again, and she shows no response. No fainting, no hysterics, and the only time she cried was when the tiger died."

Now I was PO'd, "Don't you **_dare_** call him 'that tiger', like it was just any old mangy animal I found in the gutter! He was a **_GOOD _**tiger and he was my friend and he died saving me! And I hate it when you talk about me like I'm not here and can't hear you! If you're worried, tough. I don't care."

Race and Dr. Quest looked at each other. Jonny and Hadji looked at each other. I looked at all of them and said very quietly "I hate you all." Then, I rolled over, buried my head in my pillow, and burst into tears.

"Do you?" Race said indifferently. I knew this trick. They were trying to get me to talk about what was bothering me when I didn't feel like it. They were trying to make me so mad that I didn't care what I said. It wasn't going to work, either. I swear, they must think I'm brain-dead or something...

I lay there and listened, "Where now?" Jonny asked.

"Back to the good, old USA," Race said.

"Why?" Jonny asked, "You don't mean we're actually taking her home, do you?"

"No," Race said, "We're taking her to the only place to go when you run out of options."

Jonny, Hadji, and Dr. Quest looked at each other and said, "No!" all at the same time.

"Yes," Race said, "We're going to see Jade."

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Even a moron like me can understand why everyone was a little upset at the prospect of going to see Jade. Jonny hates her because she lies too much and he usually gets fooled by her, Hadji dislikes her for the same reasons because he believes honesty should be taken seriously at all costs, and Dr. Quest can't stand her because, well, she's **JADE**. 

Race, on the other hand, likes her just **_FINE_**.

I have no opinion. She has to be smart to fool the Quests, but she always has the knack for making herself greatly disliked by everyone she meets (or so Jonny says). I think he just has issues and dislikes her because Jessie hates her.

I wanted to go home, but I knew it wise not to press the issue. If Race said I wasn't going home, then I wasn't going home. Race also wanted to check up on the Quest Compound through his "sources" to see if Serd blew it up or something. How dumb do you get? Serd probably didn't even bother with the Compound. He knew his threat would flush us into running and he could follow us easily. We had the disadvantage without all of the technology that all of them have become so dependent on. I found the fact that none of them understood this **VERY** funny.

I was contemplating on whether or not to just tell them what I thought of this plan, when a call came over the radio.

"Bannon, come in. This is Jade, over."

Race sprinted up front to the radio and grabbed the mike, "This is Bannon. What's up?"

"The Compound is fine."

Ha, I told you so. At least, I would've...

"And I have no work going on, so feel free to drop by. You probably would've anyway, though, right?" 

"Of course, but I would've knocked first," Race said "Just in case you were in the shower or something."

Gag me with a spoon. No, send me back to India or the jungle. I think I prefer Serd. 1 look at Jonny and Hadji told me they thought the same thing. Dr. Quest was just shaking his head. If this is how Race flirts, it's no surprise Estella divorced him...

"And you would've blushed and pretended to be sorry," Jade's voice said dryly, "But no harm done. Bring the posse to my place and we'll figure out a plan that only involves you getting killed. Bye." The click signaled that her radio was turned off all together. She doesn't like the way he flirts, either. I like her already.

I was now sitting up and taking turns shooting both Race and Jonny (don't ask why I was picking on him. If he would've left me alone while I was meditating, none of this would've happened. Either Race would've rescued me, or I'd be dead, not miserable) very nasty looks. They seemed to find it amusing.

"How long until we get to San Francisco?" Hadji asked.

"About 12 hours," Race said, "Get comfortable."

For Jonny that meant coming over and sitting with me. He thought that I would be ready to kiss and make up. Not a chance...

His resolve to make me feel better lasted over an hour. Then, as I knew he would, he got mad and gave up. I feel better now. I always win...

It was now 8:30 at night. This wasn't late, but since I had been through 1 too many time zones, I was beat, both physically, mentally, and emotionally. I went to sleep...

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When I woke up, I was informed that I would eat breakfast whether I wanted to or not and that we'd be at our destination soon, so I should put myself in a better mood. Being told this made me more mad, so I picked at my breakfast and ignored everyone for the rest of the 3 hours we were in the air.

We landed at the airport with no incident and made it to Jade's place easily. Too easily, but I was probably being paranoid. 

Jade opened the door in her bathrobe (apparently to prove a point to Race) and ushered us in, "You know where your room is boys," she said to Jonny and Hadji. The she turned to Dr. Quest and said "You and Race can also find your way to your rooms easily enough, especially you, Race. You know this place almost as well as I do." 

Maybe she likes the way he flirts after all...

"Come on, kid," she said to me, "You're staying in my room. I can protect you best, since you apparently need protection. Race wouldn't have come here otherwise. Besides, with this family, the girls need to stick together." 

Definitely liking this woman. She led me down the hall on the first floor to her room. The guys went upstairs apparently to their rooms, and she put my suitcase down.

"Unless you have any objections to staying with a stranger and would refer to be with the guys," she said, "You're in here with me. I thought maybe you needed to get away from them, and by the look on your face, I'd say I was right."

"You were right," I said shortly.

"I hear that you've had 2 run-ins with Serd," she said, "Wanna talk about them? I only ask once. If you need to talk from now on, you have to ask yourself."

So, I told her the whole story, front to back. She looked thoughtful for a minute and said, "If you have such mental powers, why didn't Hadji know about them sooner. That kid's got 1 hell of an intuition."

"He said something about me having hidden depths at the beginning of the summer," I said, "Then, it never came up again. I usually sent more time with Jonny." Then, I blushed.

She didn't miss it, "You like him?"

I nodded, "He like you?"

I nodded, "Good. He needs you. That boy doesn't have a normal life. A little romance wouldn't kill him. It might actually improve him a bit. He keeps himself distant."

"I know," I said, "I have to ask myself if he really likes me, because that boy doesn't have too many emotions. Why would he cling to the worst of them all?"

"Love?" Jade asked, "Believe me, that boy wants a happily ever after story to try to make up for all the ones he missed. Race is the same way. He isn't the kind of person to fall in love with."

"You did," I shot back.

She smiled, "I'm not the kind of person to fall in love with, either, and he did. If he's going to make me miserable, I might as well do the same to him."

"That's an awful thing to do," I said.

"You're doing it right now," she said, "Jonny hurt you by not understanding why the tiger was so important to you, so now you're hurting him by pretending you don't like him. It's not working. You're hurting because he acts like he doesn't care that you hate him. Give it up, the boy takes after Race. You can't win against him. You may feel like you are, but he'll win in the end. Deal with him now. They're easier to confuse when they're young."

I stared at her, "Jonny and Race both say you can't go 10 minutes without making a new enemy because you lie too much. Lying isn't the whole reason. Another problem you have is being too honest. You should find the happy medium."

She laughed, "You and I will get along just fine. I think maybe the Quest's have found their match in you."

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I decided that the best thing to do would be apologize. Giving in to the pitiful poor baby, we love you and want what's best for you routine wasn't my style, but I had no choice.

But that didn't mean I couldn't have fun doing it...

I plopped onto the couch next to Jonny and Hadji. I kissed them both on the cheek and said, "Thanks for worrying about me. I feel much better now."

Before they could say anything, I got up and pulled a similar stunt with Dr. Quest and Race. Now, they couldn't say anything because I apologized and they couldn't tell if I meant it or not. They also couldn't keep pulling the therapy stunts on me because they now knew I knew what they were trying to accomplish. Go me! Now, I just had to wait until dinner to see what they would do.

We ate a civilized dinner until dessert. Then, Race and Jade started at each other again. They made us nauseous with their flirting and then, when we thought it couldn't get any worse, they started to fight.

"If you hate me so much, then why did you let us come?" Race said.

"I don't hate everyone else and they needed help," Jade said, "I'm not coldhearted."

"No, only to me," Race said.

This was pathetic, "I don't understand you 2!" I yelled.

Everyone looked at me, "You flirt, then you fight about stupid stuff so you have an excuse not to get close, because it's apparent both of you want to."

I had shocked them into silence and I intended to take advantage of it, "Race, stop trying to talk yourself out of it. You love her; don't try to deny it. Why? Because she loves you. Both of you need to spend less time fighting and more time compromising because if you don't, you lose it all. Both of you seem to agree that it's not easy to love you, so why do you push away the 1 person who seems to?"

Still shocked...

"You're acting like spoiled 2 year olds!"

Ha, it was getting through. At least they both looked ashamed of themselves...

"Furthermore, if I here 1 more argument out of either of you tonight," I paused, "You're grounded!"

That was it. Everyone exploded in laughter.

"I'd like to see you try to ground me," Race said, "What would you take away?"

"When I go to sleep tonight," I said "I'll barricade the door to mine and Jade's room. You can't get in and she can't get out."

He gave me a look and said, "I believe you would."

"I always win," I said, "Even if it means that you lose."

"All right," Jonny said, "Enough. Let's finish dinner and go to bed." And that's just what we did. 

Side note: Jade left the room sometime around 1. I think she and Race might've met up to "reconcile their differences." When I'm right, am I right or what?

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Well, what do you think of that? I think it sucked, but that's because I'm running a tad low on ideas? Does anyone know of someone the Quest's know in Australia? I've been getting a lot of people who want a chapter there. **_REVIEW_** and help me out.

Ja ne! The Management


	13. Australia at the Embassy... Katie Should...

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Disclaimer's: I don't own Jonny Quest (even though he is my boyfriend. I believe in independence). If anyone here thinks I should own Jonny Quest, petition Hanna Barbara for me so I don't have to write this anymore. I appreciate it! On with the fic!

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"Race." I called. I was brushing Bandit since his owner was being lazy and a sudden thought had just hit me.

"What?" He came into the room and sat down next to me. 

"I'm sure my parents are going to be happy I'm seeing so many different countries and all," I said, "But, they might be a little upset once they find out it's because we're running from Serd." A little upset was the understatement of the century...

"I know," he said, "But hopefully we won't have to tell them. We should be able to wrap this up soon."

"I hope so," I said, "I have to go to school when this is over, you know. I need to be able to go home without worrying if I'll be kidnapped or something."

"We'll figure it out," he said, getting up, "If worst comes to worst, we'll head back to the Compound and barricade ourselves in. And if need be, I know Jonny won't object to you living with us forever." He smiled and said, "I doubt it will come to that though. You've still got a whole month before you have to go home. A lot can happen in a month."

"I know," I said, "I'm still worried."

"Don't be," he said, "That's my job." He left the room.

"Well, what do you think, boy?" I asked Bandit.

He woofed.

"I thought so. This isn't good no matter how we look at it." I grinned down at him and said, "You'll protect me, huh? I feel much safer. Come on, let's go attack your master for making me do his work."

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Jade decided that this wasn't going as good as she had hoped, "Race, you know I'm willing to do just about anything for you." Cough, cough....

"But," she continued, "If you are going to hide in San Francisco, here might not be the place to do it. I have enemies, too, you know."

"We know," Jonny muttered. I kicked him under the table.

"It's funny you should mention that," Race said, "Through Madame President and a few of her associates, I have a new place for us to go, somewhere were Serd wouldn't think to look for us because we've never been there before. We leave tonight."

Jonny, Hadji, and I looked at each other. This was our cue to go pack our bags. So we did.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jade drove us all to the airport (don't ask me how all of our bags plus us fit in her Jeep. I don't know. I just know that if I would've been any closer to Jonny, I would've been in his lap).

Jonny fairly leapt onto the jet with Hadji close behind. Dr. Quest said good-bye to Jade politely and hurried onto the plane also. I was going to kick them later...

Jade gave me a hug, "Don't forget what I told you," she said.

"Forget it now!" I heard Jonny yell. Men...

Race and Jade were looking at each other. That was my cue to go get on the plane. I did, and sat as far away from Jonny as possible, "She helped us, you know."

"So?" Jonny said, "She's Jade. The less we see of her, the better."

Race got on the plane looking a little flushed, and Hank took off.

"Where to?" Hank asked.

"Australia," Race said.

"Who do we know in Australia?" Jonny asked.

"No one," Race said, "And that's the point. Serd won't think to look for us there, and if he does, he won't know where to start."

"So where are we going in Australia?" I asked.

"The Embassy," Race said, "Madame President is friends with 1 of the Ambassadors and we'll stay with him while The United Nations goes after Serd."

"Are you serious?" I asked, "They're sending the _United Nations _after Serd? How did you arrange that?"

"Well, he's committed a federal offense in a country other than his own. Our government can't do anything about it, but the international 1 can."

"So, we're safe?" I asked.

"Serd has a trail on him right now," Race said, "When they catch him, he's gone."

Thank God, now I can sleep at night...

"How long have you had this set up?" I asked.

"Since we got to Jade's," Race said, "I knew the less time there the better."

"For us or for you?" I asked.

He caught my eye and said, "All of us."

That killed that conversation....

"I've never been to Australia," I said, "Have you?"

"The Doc and I have," Race said, "But the boys haven't."

"How long will this flight take?" Hadji asked.

"All night and probably until tomorrow afternoon," Race said, "So, go to sleep now. I have the feeling that you'll all sleep better than you have since we started running."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Race is such a liar. We didn't get to Australia until almost 9 at night, our time. It was 7 in the morning their time. We would spend the whole day sleeping...

We managed to get to the Embassy without any major catastrophes. The Embassy here is smaller than the one in Russia. 

Ambassador Smith and his family were happy to see us, "We're glad you made it here safely. There are plenty of guards and we hope you'll say here until Serd is apprehended. The kids must be tired of moving around so much."

I'm liking this guy. He seemed to be genuinely nice and his wife was too.

"I'd like you to meet our daughter," Mrs. Smith said, "She's just about your age, Cayla. Katie, come down here. Our guests are here."

A girl of about 13 came running down the steps, "Hey," she said, "What's up?"

Finally, someone my age other than those 2 over there. I'm really sick of guys...

Dr. Quest introduced us to her, "Where are you guys from?" she asked.

"All over," Jonny said, "But we're originally from Maine and she's from Pennsylvania, you know, in the USA."

"I know where they are," Katie said, "We're from the USA, too. Pennsylvania, USA."

2 points. Good for her. She made Jonny look stupid...

"Katie where are your manners?" her mother asked.

"In Pennsylvania, USA," she said.

I started laughing. She and I would get along just fine... ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I was staying in Katie's room with her, the boys were 1 door to the right and Dr. Quest and Race were 2 doors to the right. Katie's parent's were in the room to the left. The guards were, well, everywhere. You couldn't go 5 feet without running into another 1.

"You get used to it," Katie said.

"I'm used to it already," I said, "Everywhere we go, except for with Jade, there were people **everywhere**."

"Who's Jade," she asked.

"A friend of Race's," I said, "She lives in San Francisco. That's where we just came from."

"I haven't been back to the USA since I was 5," Katie said, "We don't get to go home much because of Daddy's duties. Where have you guys been traveling?"

"We've been to India, Russia, Columbia, and San Francisco," I said, "And now we're in Australia."

"You'll like it here," Katie said, "There are lots of cool things to do around here. We aren't that far from the ocean, so we can go swimming and snorkeling if you're allowed. The guards come with us, so you'd be safe."

"That'd be great!" I said, "I need to get outside. I got a little of a tan in Columbia, but we've been inside the rest of the time. I need some fresh air," I paused, "Are there any koala bears around here? I've always wanted to see 1."

"We can go to the Zoo while you're here, too," Katie said, "There aren't too many running around a major city."

"I didn't think so, but it didn't hurt to ask," I said. I yawned.

"Why don't you take a nap?" Katie asked, "When you wake up, we'll force the adults to let us go shopping or something."

"Sounds good," I said.

She left the room and I went to sleep...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well, I hope everyone's happy! We're in Australia and I made up people to stay with. Katie of all people should be happy. She's finally in the fic! More adventures in Australia next time on A Summer Quest! Ja ne! The Management


	14. My Powers Are Fun!

**Disclaimer's**: **_I DO NOT OWN JONNY QUEST! _**

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I woke up from my nap at... 4:00 PM. Great, the whole day gone! Oh well, I deserve a good nap and I got 1. Now to find my way to wherever everyone else happened to be. This shouldn't be too hard. This place was nowhere near as big as the other places we had stayed.

I walked out the door and discovered that 1 thing was the same no matter where we went. There was a guard outside my bedroom door, who, as it turned out, was there to show to where everyone was. Go figure...

The guard's name was Ryan and he took me to the family room where Jonny and Katie were playing Nintendo® and Hadji was (big surprise) meditating. I sat down next to him and closed my eyes.

Jonny grabbed my shoulder, "Uh-uh, no way, babes. You are **_not_** meditating until you get that power of yours under control."

"Power?" Katie asked, confused.

"I have to meditate to find out how to control it!" I snapped, "This time, if you don't want something to happen, don't annoy me while I'm doing this!"

"Geez, I was only saying," Jonny said, "Maybe you need to take a longer nap!"

"Power?" Katie repeated.

"Maybe you need to stop messing around with my business and leave me alone!" I said, and closed my eyes again.

I could feel Hadji in the corner of my mind and tried to reach him, **_Hadji?_**

Yes? he asked.

**_Am I really talking to you? _**I asked.

**__**

Open your eyes, he said.

**__**

I'll lose focus!

No, you won't. Open your eyes.

I opened my eyes and saw bright colors, **_What's going on?_**

**_You're on the astral plane, _**he said, **_If you could hear me, that's where you were and it's impossible to leave without wanting to. You won't lose focus._**

Can you show me how to control this power? I asked.

**_I don't know, _**he said, **_It's usually up to you. I can only guide you._**

Then guide me! I said.

**_I don't know where to take you, _**he said, **_I do not have this power. Not many people do. I can talk to some animals, but never have they been influenced by me or befriended me. That is their choice. You asked and they answered. It is a rare gift._**

**_I can't control it! _**I said,**_ And it's not just animals! I moved the rocks, too, if what you thought was true!_**

That I can help you with, but you've already mastered it, he said, **_I can't help you anymore than I have._**

**_What do you mean, I've mastered it? _**I asked.

**__**

Most people discover their powers before learning to meditate, he said, **_Meditation, using your powers when you sink into the trance of meditation, is the only way to learn control. You discovered your powers in meditation, therefore can control them at will now. Try._**

Try what? 

Try to do something, not animals this time. Something easy. Move something.

**_How? _**I asked.

**_Envision the object doing what you wish it to do, _**he said, **_As you do that, reach out with the part of you that controls the animals. I say that because you can already summon the animals at will. You know your control. Use it._**

I envisioned the TV. If I could move it so that it faced me instead of Jonny and Katie...

I filled my mind with the picture and reached out. Nothing happened. Or at least, I couldn't feel anything happen, **_Hadji?_**

**_Maybe reaching out was not the best way to put it, _**he said, **_Picture what you want and let yourself have it._**

I pictured the TV turning towards me. Turning... towards... me! There! 

**_How do I get out of here to see if it worked? _**I asked.

**_Let go with your mind. I'll come too, _**he said.

I let go and opened my eyes again. Jonny was moving the TV back to where it had been. Instead of it simply turning, I had moved it halfway across the room until it was right next to me! Oops... 

"Sorry" I said, "I guess I got a little carried away."

Hadji smiled a me, "Move it back."

"Do I have to go back into the astral plane?" I asked.

"No," he said, "That was just to prove a point. Want it and let yourself have it."

I pictured the TV moving back to it's original position and watched the TV slide across the floor "Ha, Jonathan Quest! I **can** control it!"

Jonny gave me a look and said, "You could've found a slightly less obvious way to do it."

"Hello?" Katie said, "What's going on?"

"Oh, Cayla has powers," Jonny said, "She can move things and talk to animals. No big deal."

I smacked him, "Should I throw some more rocks at you to make a point?"

"No!"

"Then shut up!" I yelled.

"Make me!"

"OK," I said, "I will."

"Wait," he said, "I didn't mean it!"

Too late...

We all watched as Jonny rose from the ground and was suspended in midair. This was hard to do, though.

"You're heavy," I said.

"Then put me down!" he yelled.

"Not a chance," I said, "When it gets to be too much for me to take, I'll just let you drop down on your butt." I grinned.

Jonny did the only thing possible in his situation, "**_RACE_**!"

Race came running into the room, "What?" He saw Jonny suspended from midair and stopped short. Then, he grinned "What did you do to her this time, Jonny?"

"He was being a jerk," I said.

"Well, I'm not the 1 suspending her boyfriend from midair," he said, "I think that makes **you** a jerk."

"You're right," I said, "I'll put you down."

"That's a good idea," Katie said, "The guards would have a hard time believing this. So would my parents."

"Put him down," Race said.

"Fine," I said, walking out of the room. I let go with my mind and was happy to hear the crash of him hitting the floor and a loud **OW!** afterwards...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well, as much fun as dropping Jonny on his derriere was, Race and Dr. Quest had forbidden me to do that (or to use my powers for that purpose ever again) and if I did, I was grounded. What are they going to take away? There's nothing to do, really. Well, I don't want to be grounded in Australia. We're going scuba diving and to the Zoo. I'll be grounded later...

Needless to say, Jonny isn't making me too mad anymore. Neither is anyone else. They seem to know what's good for them. I wonder if they tried to ground me and I picked them up or sent birds after them or something, would they **_not _**ground me, or ground me longer? I don't think I want to find out...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sorry, that was short and kinda pointless, but a very devoted reviewer name Fay asked where my powers went, so I wrote a special, powers only chapter just for her. That goes to show the power of reviewing. I pay attention to them, especially if they're positive and Fay only has positive things to say. Thank you, Fay and her sister! It's nice to know someone appreciates me! Now, maybe someone else will review with ideas, too! Thanks a lot everyone who reviews.

Sidenote: Robbie, I'm sorry. I do NOT love Rishi the tiger more than you. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry. You are still my sexy hot muffin... Cinnamon flavored!

Also, to everyone who thought Australia was the place to be, you were right! Thanks for that!

Katie, we still need to get the boys drunk!

Michelle, have I corrupted you with this fanfiction.net ? You're Daddy will be upset with me...

To the people mentioned above, respond to these sidenotes! Thanks! Till next time... 

Ja ne! The Management


	15. Sightseeing in Australia... Stupid Anima...

**Disclaimer's: **Guess who still doesn't own Jonny Quest?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I woke up safe and sound in the room I shared with Katie. Today, we were going to the zoo and snorkeling if there was time. Even though we had to be chaperoned, we were still going to find a way to have fun. Me especially. I want to talk to a koala bear...

I got dressed and went down to breakfast. As always, I'm the last person up, simply because if I don't get at least 8 hours of sleep, you don't want to know me in the morning.

"Morning, glory," Race said. Funny, ha ha. That was an original play on words...

"Morning," I said, "What's for breakfast?" One other good thing about Australia, they have good old American food.

"Waffles," Jonny said, gesturing to his half empty plate, "And for us kids, ours have chocolate chips in them."

"Good," I said, "Start out the day with a sugar rush!"

We made it through breakfast without any major disputes and went back to our rooms to get ready for the first day of being around normal people that didn't involve tigers.

I put on a tank top and shorts, plus sandals and ran back down the stairs. As soon as everyone was ready, we were leaving. And as always, you'll never guess who held us up? 

"**_JONNY_**!" I yelled, "Come on! You're the only one left!"

He came down the steps, taking his good old time. I had half a mind to pick him up and drop him down the steps. Race saw the look on my face and shot me a warning look. Needless to say (since I wanted to go see the koala bears. I think they're cute), I didn't use my powers. What good are they if you can't use them?

He got into the Ambassador's van (a nice normal vehicle) and drove to the zoo. It was about the size of the National Zoo in Washington DC. Where are those koala bears?

We all decided it would be best to walk around the zoo together at first, and then if we needed to split up, 4 to a group and 2 guards per group. That wasn't too bad. I just didn't want to be in a group with Race when I found the koala bears. I wanted to talk to 1. Maybe one of those Tasmanian devils, too. Most of the other animals, I could see at any zoo. I wanted to talk to the Australian animals now.

Most of the animals I saw that day, I had seen in other zoos. Still no koala bears...

The dolphins were nice. Still no koala bears...

I liked the birds. Still no koala bears...

The first 4 hours off the zoo were great... **_WHERE THE DOUBLE BLOODY HELL TO THE FOURTH POWER ARE THE KOALA BEARS? _Do they hide them or something?**

We stopped for lunch...

"Where are the koala bears?" I asked.

"They're in the jungle ecosystem," Mr. Smith said, "We'll be getting there soon. Along with the devils, lions, tigers..."

Sniff, sniff. Rishi was a **GOOD** tiger...

I don't really remember what I had for lunch. I just wanted to go see the koala bears... the Tasmanian devils, too...

We walked for about 10 minutes before we saw a cute little sign that said, "Jungle".

"Yes!" I said, "Koalas, here I come!"

"Why do you want to see those koala bears so bad?" Jonny asked.

"I've never seen 1 this close before," I said, "They look cute."

We **_FINALLY_** made it to the koala bears! They aren't as cute up close as they are from far away, but you probably aren't, either (unless you're Robbie), so none of us have any room to talk.

I picked a middle aged looking koala bear to try and talk to. I thought the younger ones might not have much to say and the old ones might be senile so, here goes...

**_Hello? _**I said. It looked at me. I got the impression of eating eucalyptus and climbing a tree, but that was it.

**_Hello? _**I tried again. It wasn't responding! Neither did any of the others! **_WTF_**?!?!?

"Hadji," I wailed, "They don't talk to you!"

He looked at me and said, "Most animals don't."

"Rishi did," He was a **GOOD** tiger...

"Tigers and other predators, along with dolphins and such are more intelligent then most plant eaters," Hadji said, "The carnivores have to possess a certain amount of intelligence to catch food. The plant eaters food doesn't run away from them."

What he said made sense, but still... Honestly! I wanted to talk to the koala bear, "Maybe the Tasmanian devil will have more to say."

The Ambassador and his wife, not to mention the guards were looking a little confused, but Race just shook his head and said, "On to the devils!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**_Hello? _**I called to 1 of the Tasmanian devils.

Blood. That's what I saw. Lots of torn up food. No words, just food.

"Hadji!" I wailed yet again, "He only thinks about his next meal! He doesn't talk either!"

"Maybe he's been spoiled by the zoo," Jonny said, "They feed him. He doesn't need intelligence."

"Damn this zoo," I muttered. Race shot me a look.

We moved on to the lions and tigers. I stopped to look into the cage of an albino tiger. He was so pretty!

**_Hello, little one. _**A voice echoed in my head.

That was definitely a tiger's voice. I looked at the albino tiger, **_Hello, are you talking to me?_**

**_Wonderful! _**the tiger said, **_I thought maybe you could thought speak, but I wasn't sure._**

I guess there aren't too many who can, I said. At last, an intelligent animal! The tiger walked over to us and purred.

Race shot me a look, "Race, it wasn't my fault! It started talking first!" He shook his head.

**_My name is Calijah, _**the tier said, **_I am a male._**

Thanks, I said, **_I'm new to this, so it's kinda hard to tell. Where are you from originally?_**

I'm afraid I do not know the names you humans call places, he said, **_I simply know it was my home, and life was simple, but good there._**

I think that's all you need to know, I said. I noticed Hadji giving me a look, **_I'm afraid I must go, _**I said, **_My humans want me to come with them._**

Good bye, little one, Calijah said.

**_Good bye, _**I said. At least this 1 was alive when I left it...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The rest of the zoo was OK. We had enough time to go to the beach. We'd eat dinner there and then go snorkeling.

We ate at a little restaurant that the Ambassador has friends at. The food was really good. I had... Shrimp on the Barbie! (Not the doll, barbie as in barbeque.) Real Australian food...

We rented our equipment and rested our dinner bit before going in. We weren't allowed to go out too far and we need a buddy, but oh well! **Water!**

I was happy the second I got into the ocean. I out my mask on and went underwater. The fish are really brightly colored! Katie, Jonny, and Hadji were right behind me. We had agreed to surface every 10 minutes and talk about the fish and stuff. 

"I like this water," I said, "It's clearer than other ocean water."

"It has a smaller salt content," Katie said, "Plus, there's less pollution. We have strict laws against dumping stuff anywhere near the coral reefs."

"Are the coral reefs around here?" Jonny asked.

"Yeah, come on," she said.

We followed her out farther towards the open ocean. It didn't take long before we found the reef. I've never seen so many fish or so many colors before! I even saw a turtle!

After about 2 hours in the reef with our equipment we swam back to shore. The adults took our equipment back to the store and we just fooled around in the water for awhile. 

"Put me down!" I yelled. Again, getting dunked. The only thing different about this time was they put me down for fear of me using my powers on them. Ha!

It was another 2 hours before the sun set. The colors then were more brilliant then any of the underwater scenes. The adults called us out of the water, since it was about 9 o'clock at night. We watched the sunset as we dried off.

"It's pretty," I said.

"Not as pretty as you," Jonny said.

"Come up with your own lines," I said, "That one's getting kinda old. You flirt almost as weirdly as Race does."

"Hey!" Race said.

"Sorry," I said.

"You are pretty," Jonny said.

I shot him a look, "If you want to kiss me, do it. Don't ruin it with crappy lines."

Race burst out laughing. Jonny shot him a look and said to me, "You can't take a compliment."

"Actions speak louder than words," I shot back.

He leaned in and kissed me.

"There," I said, "That was better than, 'You are pretty.'".

He out his arm around my waist as we waked back to the van. It took us about 45 minutes to get back to the Embassy. I took a shower and went straight to bed. It had been a long day of stupid koala bears, pretty fish, and bad pickup lines...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

What do you think? I have to put some action in here involving Serd, or people might get bored. **_REVIEW_** with ideas, K? Thanks!

Sidenote: Robbie, since you said you didn't object to romance... Here you go!

Katie, am I doing a good job with your character?

Fay, my #1 fan! You seem to be the only person who really cares if I work on this story. If the next chapter doesn't come in right away, don't worry! It's summer, I have no life, I'll get to it! Thanks for liking this so much!

Ja ne! The Management


	16. No More Running aka The PAR-TAY of the C...

**Disclaimer's**: Someone, but me Jonny Quest! I hate writing these! I don't own it...

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"Cayla!" Jonny came running into mine and Katie's room, "They got Serd **_and_** all his henchmen!"

It took a few seconds to register. It was only... 7:21 in the morning, after all, "What?"

"**_THEY GOT SERD_**!" Jonny yelled. He ran over, picked me up out of bed, and spun me around, "Once we identify him and his henchmen, they go to jail and we can go home and have a **_PAR-TAY_**!"

"Are you serious?" I asked, "No more running?"

"No more," he said, "Come eat breakfast so we can go identify him. The we can come back, pack, and go home to finish our vacation!"

I got dressed and ran down the steps with Katie right behind ma. Race and the others were eating already, so we sat down and got started. It took me about 5 minutes to eat my cereal and toast and when everyone else was done, we left for the International Jail of the United Nations. It was about 30 minutes away.

I was scared. Yeah, I know, the guy's behind bars and in a wheelchair and I was scared of him. Not exactly brave, but give me a break!

The officer showed us in and we took a seat. Jonny and Race sat on either side of me for moral support. Even though we all had to identify them, it was mainly me this benefited...

Jonny, Race, Hadji, and Dr. Quest picked out the men from Columbia immediately. I picked out Julia and Lorenzo easily and 1 of the other guys I recognized. They all turned out to be hooked up with Serd in way or another.

Then, they wheeled out Jeremiah Serd.

At first glance he seemed almost helpless. Then I saw his eyes. They were so cold. They had him speak. I recognized the voice from the answering machine and got goose bumps on my arms and legs.

He stared at us, "So we meet again, Quest."

"Yes," Dr. Quest said, "But this time, we hope it's the last."

"Is that the girl?" Serd asked.

I stared at him, then nodded. No sense in lying. Why else would I be here?

"What's your name, girl?" he asked.

I looked at Race, who shrugged. My choice, "My name is Cayla," I said.

"A pretty name," he said, "It means 'faithful' in French."

"I know," I said.

"Are you faithful?" he asked.

"I'd like to think so," I said.

"I like you, girl," he said, "So very honest. Tell me, do I, an old man in a wheelchair, scare you?"

"Yes," I said, "You can't be as helpless as you'd like people to think, or you couldn't have pulled this off. Or at least tried to pull this off."

He chuckled, "Very honest." He glanced at the guard, who was starting to move his wheelchair back into the prison cell, "Very smart, too. Good bye, girl."

"Good bye," I said. We turned and walked out the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

We packed when we got back to the Embassy. We needed to get me home before my parents panicked and called the FBI to investigate. If they hadn't already...

"I'll miss you," Katie said.

"I'll miss you, too," I said, "It was nice to be around another girl for awhile." We hugged and took my stuff downstairs. We had already exchanged email addresses. We were going to keep in touch.

"Maybe you can come visit me sometime in good old Pennsylvania, USA," I said "If you get homesick."

"That'd be fun," she said.

We loaded my stuff into the van. She and her parents weren't coming to the airport. It wasn't good for them to be out in public for so long.

A guard drove us to the airport, where the jet was and left. Hank was waiting for us and helped us load up. We took off. I relaxed and decided to enjoy the nice peaceful ride home...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"We're back!" Jonny yelled, "We're home again!"

"Thank God," Dr. Quest said, "I'd like to be able to sleep in my own bed again." Bandit barked happily.

"Now we can have a party!" Jonny yelled "To celebrate being home. Can we?" he asked Dr. Quest and Race.

They looked at each other and said, "Sure."

"Yes!" Jonny, Hadji, and I cheered. 

"Go to bed," Dr. Quest said, "It's late. Sleep well. You all deserve a break for making it through this. Especially you, Cayla."

"Thanks," I said, "I'm just glad I'm alive. I need to call my parents, though."

"Go ahead," Race said.

I walked over to the phone and dialed my number, "HI, Mom? It's me. We're back from a little vacation."

I talked for awhile and reassured her that I was fine, yes really, and I was a little homesick but I'd live. We're having a party... Yes, Race and Dr. Quest will supervise...

It was 11 o'clock before I got off. Then I went to bed and had the first truly restful sleep I had had since we left...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I woke up the next morning happy. I was in such a good mood, I kissed Jonny good morning. That just goes to show what being safe and happy does to people...

I lounged. Yes, you heard me! I actually relaxed with nothing to do. Jonny, Hadji, and I curled up on the couch (our very own couch) and watched movies. It's the simple things that make you happy....

We were planning on having the party tomorrow, so that meant we had to call all the people who had been at Robbie's party (except Melissa). That took about 2 hours out of our afternoon.

Then, (finally), I got to go swimming! I know, you're thinking I spent all that time swimming in Australia. It's not the same. I can float in the pool without worrying about a fish coming after me...

As I floated, I found my thoughts being drawn towards Rishi. He had been such a good friend and now he was gone. It wasn't like I could've seen him again after we left Columbia anyway, but at least I wouldn't have known when he died. I shook myself out of it. This was not the time to be sad. We were going to have a **_PAR-TAY_**! All but a few people said they could come. I was looking forward to seeing everyone again, especially Robbie and a few other people, too.

I climbed out of the pool just as the guys came running in. I have the perfect timing. Time to take a shower...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A nice peaceful afternoon, a nice peaceful evening, what more could you ask for? I will never again ask for any excitement while I stay here. I've had enough, thank you very much...

I couldn't wait until the party. It would be a nice, normal party and nothing could go wrong whatsoever...

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Next time on **A Summer Quest**, will the PAR-TAY go as planned? Will Cayla and the illustrious Robbie meet again as planned? You bet!

Stay tuned. I hope everyone is enjoying this. I'm working my butt off. 3 chapters in 1 day! Go me!

Sidenote: Robbie_J, you'd better be enjoying this!

Katie, you like?

Fay, Here's the next chapter as promised. I'm taking a short break, so if you don't get a new chapter right away, don't worry, I'm still alive, I swear!

That's All Folks! (Porky Pig, I don't own him either!)

Ja ne! The Management


	17. The PAR-TAY of the Century and Stupid Pa...

Disclaimer's: Still don't own it... I would like to take this time to apologize for all the typos you may find in my fanfiction. I can't type for crap, so... on with the fic!

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Well, planning for this party was not going quite as smoothly as we had hoped. We were hoping to have it outside... it's raining. We were going to have it in the den... the den is too small for like, 30 people. We could have a pool party, but then we'd have to call everyone and tell them to bring their suits. That wouldn't be so bad, except, what are you going to do afterwards? You can't stay in the pool for 5 hours (the party's from 6-11). Not to mention, no way was I going in a bathing suit in front of all those guys, most of whom I still didn't know that well.

So the only logical thing to do was... have the party in the sunroom. It was huge and covered from the rain, plus, if it stopped raining, we could all go outside. Perfect!

Then, we had to set up the sunroom. That wasn't too difficult and it only took about 3 hours (it's a big sunroom). Then, we had to go digging for all of our CDs that had gotten lost somewhere. We found them and put them by the CD player. Now, for food...

We had the usual party foods of chips dip, pretzels, etc. Then, we had pizza coming at 8 and God knows what else Race was going to make. Food shouldn't be a problem...

This was all accomplished by 4:30, so we ate an early dinner and then ran upstairs to get ready. I made it to the shower first, therefore took my time and used up all the hot water. Ha!

Then, I ran to my room to get dressed. What was I going to wear? Something slightly nicer than my last party outfit, because this was my party. I wanted to look nice... Now to tear apart the closet...

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I emerged from my room victorious over the fight with my wardrobe and my hair. I was dressed in black jeans shorts and a handkerchief top with an open back and my hair was pulled back in a twist. Look at me, I'm so pretty...

I met up with Jonny and Hadji, who didn't look so bad themselves. We ran down the steps and made it about 25 seconds before the doorbell rang...

ROBBIE'S HERE!

"Hey," he said, "What's up? We haven't heard from you for awhile. Thought maybe you dropped off the face of the planet."

"Well, that's what we needed people to think," Jonny said, "We had some technical difficulties with Serd."

"Seriously?" Robbie asked, "How'd it turn out?"

"He's in custody in Australia," I said, "And he and his henchmen will be there for a long time." I paused, "We hope."

"Well," Robbie said, "I can see why a party is in order."

We hung around and waited for everyone else to show up. Lindsay was in England, Melissa wasn't invited (Robbie said she was really PO'd about that), and David didn't come for some odd reason. Other than that, all the people from Robbie's party were here at ours.

We all danced around for awhile, but then we got bored. And what happens when 30 teenagers get really bored? Nothing good...

"What are we going to do now?" I asked. Even I, the Dancing Queen, was bored with dancing and the food wasn't ready yet. All we had to work with was chips, dip, pretzels, and pop. Empty pop bottles...

"We could always play Spin the Bottle," I said teasingly, "If we get _really _bored."

"Well," Jonny said, "I think we're about as bored as it gets."

What had I done? Jonny was reaching for the empty Coca- Cola bottle. God help us now...

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"I'm assuming everyone knows how to play?" Jonny asked.

We all said yes and Jonny put the bottle in the middle of our circle. It was weighted with some water so it would spin better. We were ready to play the most pointless party game of all (besides Truth or Dare) and I was not looking forward to it.

The funny thing was, the girl guy ratio was about even. That usually doesn't happen. This was, I had to admit, the perfect party to play this game at.

Since I was the original guest, I got to go first,. I was hoping to avoid that, but oh well, what can you do? I spun the bottle and it landed on... Hadji! I kissed him on the cheek and he spun the bottle.

This went on for awhile before the bottle worked its way back to me (Thank God). I wasn't enjoying this game as much as some of the other people were. Hadji wasn't enjoying himself, but that was to be expected. He has issues about stuff like this, but I couldn't explain why Robbie wasn't having fun. I was just about to excuse myself (and Hadji, maybe Robbie, too, if needed), when Robbie's spin landed on me.

He kissed me on the cheek. Good, now I could take my turn and take him and Hadji away from this torture game. One problem: my next spin landed on... Robbie! By rules of the game, if the bottle lands on you 1 time, it's a kiss on the cheek. If it lands on the person who landed on you, it's a kiss on the lips. Then, we get into French kissing and stuff that I didn't even want to think about. I leaned over and kissed Robbie on the lips. No big deal. I was getting up and giving Hadji and Robbie both looks that said, You want to make a break for it?

They both shot me Yes looks, so I waited for Robbie to get done with his turn. The bottle landed on... me! This was ridiculous! Robbie was shooting me a look like, Good God, what now? and everyone around us was laughing their heads off.

"What are the odds?" Jonny asked. I was surprised he wasn't going into a jealousy fit, but he seemed to genuinely find it amusing, "Maybe it's the way the bottles weighted."

Robbie and I looked at each other, looked at Hadji, then at everyone else, and bolted. We were away from the game as fast as possible and happy about it, too.

The game lasted until Race came in with the pizza. Thank God that Domino's delivers in 30 minutes or less. You'd think the guys hadn't seen food in a week. Well, in my case, I was just happy it was good old American food like pizza, instead of wild boor or something.

"Why did you leave the game?" Jonny asked me, when we were sitting with our pizza, "I wasn't going to be upset about you kissing Robbie. What were the odds of that happening?"

"I didn't leave because I thought you would be jealous," I said, "I left because it was embarrassing. I hate that game. It plays with people's emotions."

"Then why did you suggest it?" Jonny asked.

"I was joking," I said, "But you all thought it was a good idea, so I played."

"Time out," Jonny said, "If it upsets you, you need to tell me. I wouldn't have been mad."

"I know," I said, "I just don't like to look childish or wussy."

"You wouldn't have been," he said, "I don't think it's wussy not to like a stupid game. What do you want to do now?"

"Dance," I said. I'm spoiled. I always get my way...

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The party was almost over by the time we had finished dancing. I was tired, but hey, it had been my idea, so, I couldn't really whine, could I? Everyone seemed to find it amusing that I danced with Robbie so much, but they can deal with...

"Hey," Jonny said, "How about we spend the last half an hour doing nothing?"

We all looked at him, "Well, not **_nothing_**, just relaxing and talking." he said, "Get to know people better. Most of your parents will pick you up a little early anyway."

It was a good idea, so that's what we did. Jonny and Hadji went talk to some of the people they hadn't seen in awhile, so I went and sat with Robbie.

"When are you going home?" Robbie asked.

"I think about 3 weeks," I said, "I have to get back in time to do some school shopping and stuff."

"I thought so," Robbie said, "When does your school start?"

"August 31," I said.

"Rockport High doesn't start until September 2," he said.

"Lucky you."

"Nah," he said, "You guys get out earlier."

"If we started later," I said, "I'd get to stay here longer."

Robbie and I exchanged addresses and phone numbers. I could have fun running up a phone bill with this guy...

Parents started coming and soon the house was empty. Except for the 3 of us and Dr. Quest and Race.

"That was fun," Jonny said, "Especially the last half."

Hadji and I shot him a look. He is such a pimp... Of course, I didn't mind that as long as it was me he was paying attention to. Might as well get used to it. He wouldn't wait around while I was in Pennsylvania. I probably wouldn't wait for him if that was true. It could just be a summer fling...

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Well, I certainly hope everyone liked that. I took the situation where the bottle kept landing on the same 2 people from a Friends episode. I don't own Friends, either.

Robbie: Happy? You got a kiss. Quite a few, actually...

Katie: Sorry you couldn't come to the PAR-TAY...

Fay: Here's the chapter. See, I'm not dead!!!

Memo to me... no more PAR-TAYing with ANY of those people... It could be dangerous to my sanity. And my lips...

**_REVIEW_**!!! Thanx, ja ne! The Management 


	18. Almost Time For Good Byes...

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Disclaimer's: The story is winding down. It was my longest fanfiction. I know a few people who will be sad that it's over, myself included. There are only 2 chapters left... **_AND I STILL HAVE TO WRITE A DISCLAIMER'S!!!!!!!!! _**I also don't own any movies, books, or songs mentioned in this fic. On with the fic!

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I had only 1 week left in my summer stay at the Quest Compound. To make it special, I got to choose everything. Where we went, what was for dinner, and so forth.

We went to see The Mummy Returns. We had all of my favorite foods. **_I FINALLY GOT TO USE THE VR ROOM!!!_** We all went swimming, we had a blast... And it was almost time to say good bye. I didn't want to go. But...

"Maybe you don't have to go," Jonny said. We were sitting out on the porch, just the 2 of us. Everyone was actually giving us a little privacy.

"You know I have to," I said, "I have to go back to school. Even if I went to school up here, my parents wouldn't be too crazy about the idea."

"Why not?" Jonny asked, "Your Mom and my Dad are good friends. She trusts us to take care of you."

"That's because she doesn't know we spent half of the vacation running from Serd," I said, "It could happen again."

"You don't want to stay because you're afraid of the stuff that happens?" Jonny asked me.

"It's not just that-"

"It's OK," Jonny said, "I don't blame you. You aren't used to split second decisions or being in danger. It's OK."

We were quiet for awhile.

"This doesn't mean we can't visit each other," I said.

"Yeah," Jonny said, "You can stay here next summer, too and..." His voice trailed off.

"It won't work with us will it?" I asked.

"I... don't know," Jonny said, "It's so long until next summer. I wish you wouldn't have to be gone so long."

"If we did stay together," I said, "We'd be constantly worrying about each other and we'd end up breaking up and probably hating each other."

"Yeah," Jonny said, "It's not worth the friendship."

I looked at him and asked, "Are we breaking up now?"

"I guess," Jonny said, "I don't know if we can officially break up, though."

"Yeah," I said, "We were never officially going out if you think about it."

"Then, I guess we just part as friends," Jonny said.

"Is it OK if I'm not happy about it?" I asked.

"Yeah," Jonny said, "I'm not happy about it, either."

We sat on the porch and watched the sunset over the water...

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When we went inside, I think the others knew we had "broken up" because they didn't say anything. I went up to take a shower and then just crawled into bed with the book of Fairy Tales Madame President had given me. Great for giving you nightmares...

Race came in to see me at about 10:30, "Hey munchkin. How are you doing?"

To my horror, I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, "I don't want to leave you guys in a couple of days."

Race gave me a hug, "You can always come back for visits and-" He stopped, "But it can't be that way, can it? You need something for keeps or not at all."

I nodded and felt the tears fall down my face, "We can write and send email and stuff, but if I come back, I don't know if I can leave again."

"Then, we'll write and send email and stuff," Race said, "Long distance rarely works with couples, but with families, we can make it work."

I looked at him, "Families?"

"That's what you are now munchkin," he said, "You're 1 of us now, even if you and Jonny don't get married."

I smiled and nodded. Race kissed my forehead and took my book from my hands and put it on my bedside table, "Go to sleep. We can talk more in the morning." He walked out the my door, closing it behind him.

I rolled over and went to sleep...

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The next 3 days passed by quickly for us. There was nothing to do except pack and make promises that it might be too hard to keep. I hated how everyone tried to be cheerful, when you could tell they were just as upset as I was. 

Jonny especially. I almost asked him if we could try to have a long distance relationship a couple if times, but I didn't. Neither of us wanted to deal with the pain of me leaving, so we cut it off early and that was good. Or was it...

We were floating around the swimming pool when it hit me. I mean really hit me. I was leaving tomorrow. This was the last time I would swim in this pool. This was the last night I'd sleep in my bed. This was the last dinner and lunch I'd eat with them. I'd have breakfast tomorrow but...

I climbed out of the pool and raced for my room. I dropped onto my bed (regardless of how wet I was) and started to cry. Jonny and Hadji came racing into the room after me. They took 1 look at me and put their arms around me (they were wet, too, but what the heck?). We all started crying...

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Race and Dr. Quest left Jonny, Hadji, and I go out to the greenhouse with our sleeping bags and spend the night by ourselves to say good bye. I'd never seen the greenhouse before. It was pretty big and the plants were pretty. This was Dr. Quest's hobby. I guess I won't be spending 1 last night in my bed after all...

We were equipped with a stereo, food, drinks, flashlights for when we didn't want the big lights on, and bug repellant. There was an area in the middle of the greenhouse that was clear of tables, so that's where we set up for the night.

We arrived out there around 10 and set everything up. We agreed to try to go to bed by 1 so we wouldn't be too tired the next day and I wouldn't be cranky when I saw my parents again. We were going to spend the time talking.

"I can't believe I leave tomorrow," I said, "The summer went by too fast."

Jonny and Hadji nodded.

"We have to write and email," I said, "If I can't see you guys, I want to talk to you. At least, it's kinda talking."

The boys nodded again. I suddenly flung myself at them, "I'm going to miss you all so much!"

I turned to Hadji, "Who else will understand the fact that I talk to tigers? My parents might not be too thrilled about this."

He smiled, "I can always send you more meditating secrets."

"Yeah," I said, "But it's easier to do when you have a visual aide. I'll probably get horribly confused and end up poking out my psychic seat or something." Hadji and I grinned.

Jonny was being so quiet, "You not talking right now?" I asked him.

"I can't think of anything to say," he said "You're leaving tomorrow and I'll miss you. I can't say anything else. No matter what I do, you're still leaving, so I'm not going to try to convince you to stay." He met my eyes, "If I say anything more, it will be meaningless. I love you and I'll miss you too much." He rolled over and turned his back to us. He didn't speak the rest of the night.

Hadji and I made small talk until midnight, then we called it quits. We said good night to Jonny and went to sleep...

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Well guys, this is it. Only 1 more chapter in A Summer Quest. It's been great and I'm actually thinking of am idea for a sequel. If any of you want me to try to come up with a sequel, let me know. I'd be happy to try. What do you think about the Quests spending Thanksgiving at my place?

Robbie: I had fun watching The Matrix with you. We need to do it again, this time at my house with the cemetery, K?

Katie: Until next time in Australia...

Fay: I'm sorry to end the fic, but I think you'll be happy if I write a sequel, huh?

Thanx, ja ne! The Management


	19. Good Bye... Until Next Time!The Final Ch...

**Disclaimer's**: I am about to cry. This is the last chapter in A Summer Quest. 19 great (in my opinion) chapters... **AND I STILL HAVE TO WRITE A BLOODY DISCLAIMER'S!!!!!!!!!!!! **How fair is that? Oh, well, you guys should know by now that I don't own JQ or anything else I happen to mention in this fic, so... *sniffle* Here's the last chapter...

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I woke up the next morning tangled in my sleeping bag. I couldn't recall having any dreams or nightmares, so it would've been a good night if I wasn't leaving today. Around me, Jonny and Hadji were starting to stir.

"Good morning," I said. I refused to cry until I was leaving and being cheerful was probably the only way to avoid it.

"Morning," they said.

"What time is it?" Jonny asked.

"I don't know," I said, "You're the 1 with the watch."

"Yeah," Jonny said. He picked his watch up off the floor, "It's almost 9. We should go eat breakfast before Dad and Race start to worry."

I went to pick up my sleeping bag, but Hadji stopped me, "Leave it here, except for what you need to take home with you." He flinched on the word 'home', "We'll get it later. Let's go eat."

I grabbed my CDs and stuff and we walked back to the Compound. Race had chocolate chip pancakes (my favorite breakfast) waiting for us. We ate breakfast in silence. None of us could really think of anything to say. We'd say good bye when I got into the jet.

"What time will Hank be here?" I asked.

"11 o'clock," Dr. Quest said.

It was only 9:30 now. I had an hour and a half to kill. I needed to pack my carryon bag with my CDs and books that I had left out. I excused myself and went upstairs to do it.

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The time went by quicker than I thought it would. At 10:45, the guys helped me bring my luggage down by the landing area to wait for Hank. I was praying something would happen. That the jet would break down, Hank would call in sick from wherever he was, **_something_**. I couldn't leave and never come back. But, I couldn't leave and keep coming back, either. My heart wouldn't be able to take it.

We all stood out there to wait for Hank. The sunshine was bright. It should've been raining to suit the mood. Hank was right on time.

We loaded my stuff onto the jet. Now, we **had** to say our good byes...

Dr. Quest hugged me, "We'll miss having you around," he said, "Tell your Mother I said hello. Call often and reverse the charges."

"Thanks," I said, "I will."

I walked over to Race, "Good bye, munchkin," he said, "Remember what I said about how families can make things work." He had tears in his eyes. The fact that Race was crying immediately made me cry. That was to be expected, though.

Now, for Hadji. We had all said part of our good byes last night, but, "Bye, Hadji," I said, "You'll have to send me more psychic stuff. It's the 1 thing guaranteed to freak my new teachers out in school."

"I don't think so," Race said, "Your parents will hear about your powers and they can devise a suitable punishment for you using them on people."

Hadji and I smiled at each other. I closed my eyes as I felt him on the edges of my mind.

**_We'll keep in touch like this, too, _**he said**_, If you can get strong enough for great distances._**

I will, I said, **_Believe me, I will._**

Believe in yourself, he said, **_And you will._**

**_OK, _**I said. I felt him withdraw from my mind and I opened my eyes.

Now for Jonny and for some more tears. Hadji hadn't made me cry because he didn't seem sad. He knew we'd keep in touch. The rest of us were acting like I was dying or something.

"Bye, Jonny," I said.

He just looked at me. I gave him a hug. He had said all he needed to say last night, so I didn't expect a response. 

After 1 last round of hugs, I managed to head towards the jet. I climbed into my seat and stared at everyone out my window. Then, I started to cry.

Hank lifted the jet off the ground and I stared until they faded away into the scenery. I decided right now to stop crying. It certainly wasn't making me feel any better. I decided to pull out my CD player and drown it all out in music.

When I opened my carryon, there was an envelope on top of my CD player and CDs. It hadn't been there before. I opened it. It was a letter.

**Dear Cayla,**

I'm sorry I couldn't really say good bye to you. The truth is, I _can't_ say good bye to you, or I'd probably die of heartbreak. I miss you already. I started missing you last night. We all cried over you leaving and that was good, but it wasn't enough for me. You never know what you have until it's gone, but I started realizing last night that I knew what I had and I couldn't let it go. We agreed long distance would never work and we were right. But even though we were right for the real world, I don't think we were right with our hearts. I'm waiting for you. I don't know how long I'll have to wait, but I'll wait. Just, if you think it wouldn't hurt too much, come back to me someday and see how much I've changed.

I'm writing this while I watch you sleep. Did you know Hadji snores? He's doing it right now. I don't want to lose you. You don't have to wait for me. I won't mind if you don't, but I need you to come back to me someday, if only for just a visit. I didn't say good bye before you got on the jet with Hank because this is my good bye. I'm not saying a good bye, because I think someday you _will_ come back to me. I love you and I'll miss you. You have my email and stuff, so you'd better right me a response to this letter. I'll be waiting. Again, I love you.

Love you always,

Jonny

I started to cry all over again. This was it. My summer quest was really over. I had to go back to being a regular teenage girl. Well, maybe not exactly regular, now that I can talk to animals and stuff, but still. It had been a great summer and a great experience. I think if I can survive Serd, tigers, eating wild boar, and Jonny's cooking, I can survive anything... Even 10th grade at my High School. And I'll do a damn good job at it, too...

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There it is. The final chapter to A Summer Quest. Was it a good ending? I hope I didn't ruin the story with a crappy ending... I have a few things I need to say now:

Thank you to everyone who encouraged this fic: Robbie, Michelle, Katie, Fay, and a few others, including my Mom. 

Now for the messages: 

Robbie, you happy? I won't be kissing Jonny Quest until the sequel. You don't need to be jealous anymore, I promise.

Katie, how was it? I hope you enjoyed it.

Fay, there will be a sequel, I swear. It's going to be called Email my Heart. Yes, I know that's a Britney Spears song, but it won't be a songfic. It will be a diary of the emails sent between me and the Quest Compound. Sound good? I hope so...

Again, thanks everyone! I had fun with this and I hope you did, too. I also encourage you to look up my profile and read some of my other sappy romance fics until I can get this sequel out. It could take awhile, since I'm in the middle of 2 other fics right now! See ya later!

Thanx, ja ne! The Management


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